Galwan clash clip shown at key China meet singles India as military adversary

On the opening day of the 20th national congress of the Communist Party of China yesterday, a clip of June 15, 2020, Galwan clash between Indian Army and the PLA in East Ladakh was played out with the then Chinese military commander toasted as a hero of the ceremonial meeting in Beijing.

The Chinese military commander also carried the 2022 Winter Olympic Games torch held in Beijing.

While President Xi Jinping, soon to be elected as China’s paramount leader for the third time, showcased the bloody skirmish at Galwan to flaunt the military prowess of the nationalistic PLA, it also deliberately identified democratic India as a principal adversary of the Communist dictatorship. The Xi Jinping regime has tried to project the Galwan clash as a victory of the PLA as it claimed to have lost four men as against 20 soldiers of the Indian Army.

However, based on PLA communication intercepts and helicopter evacuations on that fateful day, the Indian Army believes that the Chinese Army lost anywhere between 43 to 67 men on the banks of the freezing Galwan River.

In the speech that followed the battle clip, a jingoistic President Xi Jinping focused on his continued efforts to make China more militarily and economically powerful with the capacity and capability to challenge the West led by the US. He reiterated his desire to co-opt democratically ruled Taiwan into China with or without force.

However, by playing the Galwan skirmish, the Chinese Communist leaders have revealed their hatred for India, and this will have strong repercussions for the bilateral relationship in the future.

Sixty years ago, the Chinese PLA on October 16, 1962, was readying itself for an attack on Daulat Beg Oldi and Galwan with the military objective of imposing a unilateral 1959 boundary line and making cartographical changes in East Ladakh.

Official war history records state that in a meeting on September 22, 1962, the then Foreign Secretary M J Desai conveyed that the then Prime Minister J.N. Nehru was willing to accept some loss of territory in East Ladakh. The PLA, outnumbering Indian Army 3:1, attacked DBO and Galwan on October 19, 1962, morning and changed the bilateral relationship forever.

Analysis of President Xi’s speech and the war propaganda before clearly indicates that China will neither de-escalate from East Ladakh nor allow Indian Army to patrol Depsang Plains or Charding Nullah Junction in Demchok. By creating buffer zones on patrolling points 14, 15, 17 in Galwan and Gogra-Hot Springs, the PLA has strengthened its claims on the 1597 km LAC in East Ladakh.

It is also quite evident that China will continue to prop up Pakistan to box way above its weight category to keep India in check, while at the same time blocking India’s entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and other multi-lateral institutions. Beijing will continue to act as a hurdle to UN designation of Pakistan based terrorists and terror groups by exercising its veto powers in support of its client state.

This apart, China is also very unhappy with Apple for moving their iPhone 14 manufacturing to South India and would be hoping that genuine or orchestrated political turmoil in South India in near future will make the US company realise its folly. Given that President Xi’s speech had nothing new to offer in terms of reforms or even Covid relaxation, the multi-national companies will move towards India, provided the Modi government does not allow strikes and protests to prevail in the name of democracy.

Just as the Galwan clash came as a surprise to PLA, which expected the Indian Army to fall back as it did on Pangong Tso lake in May 2020, the sacrifice of Col Babu and his valiant men has thrown off the burden of 1962 war from shoulders of Indian troopers and commanders. It is time that the sympathizers of China within get a reality check.