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LAC stand-off: Indian Army occupies heights, wrests upper hand at Pangong Tso


NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has quietly wrested the advantage in the Pangong Tso area — a sector witnessing heightened India-China military tensions — with the occupation of heights on the south bank of the lake and repositioning of forces on ridgelines in the fingers or spurs on the north bank.

Indian forces had been placed in a difficult position after Chinese troops established a heavy presence on the ridges or the Finger 4-8 area earlier in the year. Despite a small pullback, they had retained what was seen as a tactical edge on the ridgelines.

With neither military-to-military talks nor high-level diplomatic discussions yielding results and China’s pro-fessed commitment to dialogue failing to translate into tangible action, the Indian forces began to plan a response aimed at restoring parity that would neutralise the upper hand held by the intruding PLA troops.

Sources said the plan to “occupy” the heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso had been in the works and would have been operationalised irrespective of the attempted advance of Chinese troops in the area on the night of August 29. While it was imperative to prevent the PLA contingent from ascending, the Army used the provocation to put its plan into action as well.

Along with the south bank manoeuvre, a repositioning of Indian forces in the finger area on the north bank of the lake has completed the operation to snatch the advantage held by PLA since the military tensions erupted in early May.

Though India has not provided much details about the developments, sources said the balance at Pangong Tso stood drastically altered. The steady stream of angry commentary in Chinese “official” media and foreign ministry statements accusing India of “violating consensus” and urging that it immediately discipline frontline troops is evidence of Beijing’s discomfiture.

China's transgression attempt near the southern bank of Pangong lake, which was thwarted by the Indian Army, was a deliberate move to provoke India, according to American intelligence assessment. Beijing is infuriated with its local commander withdrawing forces when a physical conflict appeared

The view in Delhi is that the previous sweet talk about the need to see differences in the broader perspective of shared goals was simply aimed at fobbing off India and consolidating a changed status quo.
 

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LAC stand-off: Indian Army occupies heights, wrests upper hand at Pangong Tso


NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has quietly wrested the advantage in the Pangong Tso area — a sector witnessing heightened India-China military tensions — with the occupation of heights on the south bank of the lake and repositioning of forces on ridgelines in the fingers or spurs on the north bank.

Indian forces had been placed in a difficult position after Chinese troops established a heavy presence on the ridges or the Finger 4-8 area earlier in the year. Despite a small pullback, they had retained what was seen as a tactical edge on the ridgelines.

With neither military-to-military talks nor high-level diplomatic discussions yielding results and China’s pro-fessed commitment to dialogue failing to translate into tangible action, the Indian forces began to plan a response aimed at restoring parity that would neutralise the upper hand held by the intruding PLA troops.

Sources said the plan to “occupy” the heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso had been in the works and would have been operationalised irrespective of the attempted advance of Chinese troops in the area on the night of August 29. While it was imperative to prevent the PLA contingent from ascending, the Army used the provocation to put its plan into action as well.

Along with the south bank manoeuvre, a repositioning of Indian forces in the finger area on the north bank of the lake has completed the operation to snatch the advantage held by PLA since the military tensions erupted in early May.

Though India has not provided much details about the developments, sources said the balance at Pangong Tso stood drastically altered. The steady stream of angry commentary in Chinese “official” media and foreign ministry statements accusing India of “violating consensus” and urging that it immediately discipline frontline troops is evidence of Beijing’s discomfiture.

China's transgression attempt near the southern bank of Pangong lake, which was thwarted by the Indian Army, was a deliberate move to provoke India, according to American intelligence assessment. Beijing is infuriated with its local commander withdrawing forces when a physical conflict appeared

The view in Delhi is that the previous sweet talk about the need to see differences in the broader perspective of shared goals was simply aimed at fobbing off India and consolidating a changed status quo.
Ancient chinese wisdom says "snake tongues are forked" (just kidding I made that up). They'll continue this language but will follow up with military backing. In reality they're annoyed that India got one over them.

As I see it the latest stunt is going to make China beef up presence and hard stand. If India can be preemptive and solidfy, and make life harder (more difficult to navigate around the area) for China then it'll bogg down for winter.

I hope India has soldiers training in snowy conditions atm you'll probably be needing them for winter.
 
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Maximilian Veers

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Map Ladakh 1.jpg


Updated map, based on information from OSINT. Please note this may not be accurate as it is NOT coming from any official source.

Information based on OSINT news. All the PLA posts are in low lying areas along the Spangur Lake. Our Positions give direct LOS to all the PLA camps. If the conflict starts, all PLA camps will come under direct artillery fire.

Spangur Gap is where the PLA armor, mechanized Infantry can storm further into Ladakh. With the strategic posts under Indian control. Any attempted invasion will come under immidiate fire of very accurate artillary barrage. Not to mention ATGM's which could be positioned there.
 
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View attachment 740

Updated map, based on information from OSINT. Please note this may not be accurate as it is NOT coming from any official source.

Now that is a smart move by PLA (except that it seems to be at the foot of the mountain). Though I would imagine if things get seriously heated up PLA might relocate to opposit side of the lake, a natural barrier is the best peacemaker IMO.
 
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Now that is a smart move by PLA (except that it seems to be at the foot of the mountain). Though I would imagine if things get seriously heated up PLA might relocate to the opposite side of the lake, a natural barrier is the best peacemaker IMO.

The entire area is vulnerable to the Chinese now. If a conflict starts, It will become untenable to hold it until they somehow try to forcefully take over the strategic peaks. Which if fortified, will require a lot of men and blood.
 

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Ancient chinese wisdom says "snake tongues are forked" (just kidding I made that up). They'll continue this language but will follow up with military backing. In reality they're annoyed that India got one over them.

As I see it the latest stunt is going to make China beef up presence and hard stand. If India can be preemptive and solidfy, and make life harder (more difficult to navigate around the area) for China then it'll bogg down for winter.

I hope India has soldiers training in snowy conditions atm you'll probably be needing them for winter.

India has a specialised and reputable academy for high altitude warfare:


A chinese military author brought up the subject some time back:

 

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IAF is key to India’s ‘deterrence by punishment’ plan against China. Now to wait for winter


China knows PLAAF doesn’t match IAF, and is strengthening its air defence along LAC. The government’s stance must stay focussed on punishment, not denial.

AVM MANMOHAN BAHADUR (RETD) 3 September, 2020 8:39 am IST

An IAF fighter jet flies over Leh after fresh confrontation between India and China on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, 2 Sep | PTI


An IAF fighter jet flies over Leh after fresh confrontation between India and China on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, 2 Sep | PTI


There is a stalemate across India’s northern frontier. Truth be told, we have lost some territory to China and the status quo at the Line of Actual Control or LAC has been disturbed to our disadvantage. The Indian Army seems to have taken some tactically vital ridges on the south bank of Pangong Tso in the last two days but, considering the larger canvas, something would have to give way, peacefully or otherwise. While the peaceful option, through diplomatic parleys, would be most welcome, it is the latter option that India should be worried about and plan for.

China’s behaviour, in no way, sends a message of peace, as indicated by its feverish build-up and construction activity in the border areas, especially of infrastructure associated with its air defence network. It signals a plan to stay put.

This construction activity, while gaining time by prolonging discussions, is indicative of three things. First, an acknowledgment on the part of China that its air defence arrangements along the border with India have a porosity (aerial surveillance gaps) that the Indian Air Force (IAF) can exploit. Second, an acceptance of the fact that the IAF would be the vanguard of an Indian response if push comes to shove. And third, building up its deterrence quotient through a strategy of denial whereby it feels that India would be forced to re‑think using its air force due the threat of an impenetrable air defence network put in place.

But India no longer needs to play to the strategy of deterrence by denial.

Also read: Satellite images reveal China is building surface-to-air missile site at Mansarovar Lake

A message needs to be sent
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has admitted that “talks are underway to resolve the border dispute…but to what extent it can be resolved, I cannot guarantee.”

So, the IAF is key to India’s offensive plans against China. It has an edge over the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) for many reasons. The foremost being the fact that Chinese airfields are at high altitudes, which results in drawbacks in terms of what its air force can throw at the IAF and the Indian Army. China knows that and is trying to overcome it with its new radar and surface-to-air missile deployments – in effect, putting in place a dense, ground-based, air defence network.


It seems to be following the doctrine that Pakistan has used in its attempt to blunt the offensive foundation of Indian air power. Could the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) be giving China inputs and playing an active role behind the scenes? While this might be true, Beijing is playing the psy-war to the hilt by parking its frontline assets, including the latest J‑20 stealth fighters, on the tarmac in forward airfields — in full view of satellites scouring the area from high above so as to send a message to New Delhi. Some may say that there are no hard shelters to park the aircraft there, but that is only part of the argument because there are always options to get around it.

Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong terming the Galwan clash and loss of 20 Indian soldiers as “..a brief moment from the perspective of history”, besides being disdainful, is also an example of classic deception at work.

A message needs to be sent back. It has to be one of substance, and not of rhetoric meant for a domestic audience; adversaries see through these very easily.

Also read: India’s electronic warfare units are archaic, but camouflage, concealment can blunt PLA

Deterrence by denial
Winter is approaching and China would have studied the weather pattern that affects our airfields up north. The weather conditions that exist in the Himalayan foothills, where all our airbases are located, and those on the Tibetan plateau, which hosts the PLAAF airfields, would have been fed into war games and simulations by both India and China.

As the IAF would give top cover to any Indian riposte on ground against any action by China — and to action that India might take to push the Chinese back — it is vital that this protective umbrella not be diluted.

In a very prescient 2018 study of India’s strategic dilemmas vis-à-vis China, scholars Anit Mukerjee and Yogesh Joshi wrote in the journal Asian Security that New Delhi had moved from a strategy of ‘deterrence by denial’ to ‘deterrence by punishment’ for various reasons. It means that India intends to prevail through offensive action and take the battle to the adversary now. And China must beware of the damage that would be caused to its forces if it decides to use hard power.

Beijing feverishly strengthening its air defence network has to be seen in this light. The message it is sending to New Delhi is one of deterrence by denial – why send your Air Force if it will suffer huge damage?

Also read: Indian Army ‘redeploys’ troops, reaches heights facing Finger 4 in Pangong Tso

Deterrence by punishment
The appropriate reply to China in this situation must be a transmission of capability and intent — the IAF would communicate the capability and the intent would be discerned through the actions and statements of our political leadership.

The IAF should maintain its alert status and conserve its forces for the coming cold weather. Deployments would surely be getting reviewed and offensive assets, other than fighters (that require airfields to operate from), would also be getting tasked for a greater role in case of a shooting war. We have the aerial resources to operate in those high altitude areas – we also have (always had) crew who must be straining at the leash to help restore the status quo ante.

The government’s stance must stay focussed on deterrence by punishment. Simultaneously, New Delhi must gainfully use the interlude to push through the agenda of augmenting indigenous defence R&D and manufacturing capacities. This needs decisive decision-making, clinical implementation of policy catalysts (to kickstart the stuttering process that has been attempted for decades) and shunning faux publicity that only ends up in reducing credibility. The fact is that neither can we change our neighbours nor should we be naïve enough to expect them to change their outlook towards India — if anything, the events of the past few months have confirmed that, and we must plan accordingly.

The author, a retired Air Vice Marshal, is Addl Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi. Views are personal.
 

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IAF is key to India’s ‘deterrence by punishment’ plan against China. Now to wait for winter


China knows PLAAF doesn’t match IAF, and is strengthening its air defence along LAC. The government’s stance must stay focussed on punishment, not denial.

AVM MANMOHAN BAHADUR (RETD) 3 September, 2020 8:39 am IST

An IAF fighter jet flies over Leh after fresh confrontation between India and China on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, 2 Sep | PTI


An IAF fighter jet flies over Leh after fresh confrontation between India and China on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, 2 Sep | PTI


There is a stalemate across India’s northern frontier. Truth be told, we have lost some territory to China and the status quo at the Line of Actual Control or LAC has been disturbed to our disadvantage. The Indian Army seems to have taken some tactically vital ridges on the south bank of Pangong Tso in the last two days but, considering the larger canvas, something would have to give way, peacefully or otherwise. While the peaceful option, through diplomatic parleys, would be most welcome, it is the latter option that India should be worried about and plan for.

China’s behaviour, in no way, sends a message of peace, as indicated by its feverish build-up and construction activity in the border areas, especially of infrastructure associated with its air defence network. It signals a plan to stay put.

This construction activity, while gaining time by prolonging discussions, is indicative of three things. First, an acknowledgment on the part of China that its air defence arrangements along the border with India have a porosity (aerial surveillance gaps) that the Indian Air Force (IAF) can exploit. Second, an acceptance of the fact that the IAF would be the vanguard of an Indian response if push comes to shove. And third, building up its deterrence quotient through a strategy of denial whereby it feels that India would be forced to re‑think using its air force due the threat of an impenetrable air defence network put in place.

But India no longer needs to play to the strategy of deterrence by denial.

Also read: Satellite images reveal China is building surface-to-air missile site at Mansarovar Lake

A message needs to be sent
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has admitted that “talks are underway to resolve the border dispute…but to what extent it can be resolved, I cannot guarantee.”

So, the IAF is key to India’s offensive plans against China. It has an edge over the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) for many reasons. The foremost being the fact that Chinese airfields are at high altitudes, which results in drawbacks in terms of what its air force can throw at the IAF and the Indian Army. China knows that and is trying to overcome it with its new radar and surface-to-air missile deployments – in effect, putting in place a dense, ground-based, air defence network.


It seems to be following the doctrine that Pakistan has used in its attempt to blunt the offensive foundation of Indian air power. Could the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) be giving China inputs and playing an active role behind the scenes? While this might be true, Beijing is playing the psy-war to the hilt by parking its frontline assets, including the latest J‑20 stealth fighters, on the tarmac in forward airfields — in full view of satellites scouring the area from high above so as to send a message to New Delhi. Some may say that there are no hard shelters to park the aircraft there, but that is only part of the argument because there are always options to get around it.

Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong terming the Galwan clash and loss of 20 Indian soldiers as “..a brief moment from the perspective of history”, besides being disdainful, is also an example of classic deception at work.

A message needs to be sent back. It has to be one of substance, and not of rhetoric meant for a domestic audience; adversaries see through these very easily.

Also read: India’s electronic warfare units are archaic, but camouflage, concealment can blunt PLA

Deterrence by denial
Winter is approaching and China would have studied the weather pattern that affects our airfields up north. The weather conditions that exist in the Himalayan foothills, where all our airbases are located, and those on the Tibetan plateau, which hosts the PLAAF airfields, would have been fed into war games and simulations by both India and China.

As the IAF would give top cover to any Indian riposte on ground against any action by China — and to action that India might take to push the Chinese back — it is vital that this protective umbrella not be diluted.

In a very prescient 2018 study of India’s strategic dilemmas vis-à-vis China, scholars Anit Mukerjee and Yogesh Joshi wrote in the journal Asian Security that New Delhi had moved from a strategy of ‘deterrence by denial’ to ‘deterrence by punishment’ for various reasons. It means that India intends to prevail through offensive action and take the battle to the adversary now. And China must beware of the damage that would be caused to its forces if it decides to use hard power.

Beijing feverishly strengthening its air defence network has to be seen in this light. The message it is sending to New Delhi is one of deterrence by denial – why send your Air Force if it will suffer huge damage?

Also read: Indian Army ‘redeploys’ troops, reaches heights facing Finger 4 in Pangong Tso

Deterrence by punishment
The appropriate reply to China in this situation must be a transmission of capability and intent — the IAF would communicate the capability and the intent would be discerned through the actions and statements of our political leadership.

The IAF should maintain its alert status and conserve its forces for the coming cold weather. Deployments would surely be getting reviewed and offensive assets, other than fighters (that require airfields to operate from), would also be getting tasked for a greater role in case of a shooting war. We have the aerial resources to operate in those high altitude areas – we also have (always had) crew who must be straining at the leash to help restore the status quo ante.

The government’s stance must stay focussed on deterrence by punishment. Simultaneously, New Delhi must gainfully use the interlude to push through the agenda of augmenting indigenous defence R&D and manufacturing capacities. This needs decisive decision-making, clinical implementation of policy catalysts (to kickstart the stuttering process that has been attempted for decades) and shunning faux publicity that only ends up in reducing credibility. The fact is that neither can we change our neighbours nor should we be naïve enough to expect them to change their outlook towards India — if anything, the events of the past few months have confirmed that, and we must plan accordingly.

The author, a retired Air Vice Marshal, is Addl Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi. Views are personal.
I heard that M2000s are the real backbone of the IAF, what are the MKI's role if such an air war happens?
 

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This is a new avatar - @Nilgiri the Bible specialist!! o_O

Had an excellent illustrated bible as a kid growing up. I am visual fella, always have been and will be....its really been some of those illustrations that have stuck with me.
 

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I heard that M2000s are the real backbone of the IAF, what are the MKI's role if such an air war happens?

Mirage 2000 have their role and place for sure, but they are backbone only for some kind of missions I would say.

Multipurpose wise (esp given the numbers in IAF), really the MKI will be the one doing everything from bomb trucking, SEAD and air-air EW and engagement.
 

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I assume that India and China don't want to divide the disputed area, but can anyone shed light on how the area became disputed ?

I know that some of Jamu region has been "rented" to China by Pakistan, but There are almost no definite borderline between China and Jamu/Kashmir.

Is it safe to assume that China expanded during a time where India and Pakistan wasn't looking ?


This interview will address some of your questions.

 

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China requests meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on sidelines of SCO amid border tension


Both the defence ministers are in Moscow, Russia, for the SCO defence minister meeting.



Amid border tension between India and China in eastern Ladakh, Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe has requested for a meet with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet on September 4 (Friday).

Both the defence ministers are in Moscow, Russia, for the SCO defence minister meeting. India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are part of the SCO grouping.

India had received a request from China for a meet with Rajnath Singh when he was in Moscow for victory day celebrations earlier this year. At that time no meeting had happened. While it's not confirmed that if India will agree to China's request, the development comes amidst heightened tensions between the two countries.

On Thursday, India had said the ongoing situation at the LAC is due to "direct result of action" by China. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "It is clear that the situation we witness over the past four months is a direct result of the actions taken by the Chinese side that sought to effect a unilateral change of status quo. These actions resulted in the violation of the bilateral agreements and protocol which ensured peace and tranquillity in the border areas for close to three decades."

He also said, "I can say that the ground commanders are still holding discussions to resolve the situation. We reiterate the consensus reached between the two Foreign Ministers and SRs that the situation in the border should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters."

On August 31, the Indian Army had said the Chinese military carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh on the intervening night of August 29 and 30 but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops.

"Now the way ahead is negotiations, both through the diplomatic and military channels. The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue. We therefore strongly urge the Chinese side to sincerely engage the Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring the peace and tranquillity in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols," added Srivastava.

Srivastava had on September 1 said the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) was engaged in "provocative action" again a day earlier when the ground commanders of the two sides were holding talks to ease the situation. Following the Chinese attempts, the Indian Army has strengthened its presence in at least three strategic heights in the southern bank of Pangong lake.
 

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China asked ? First?
Am I reading this right?

My bet.Prolly they can't sustain a long lasting build up in the west while simultaneously confronting the US in the East.

The whole chinese adventures is a big blunder btw. not just in India but basically every neighbor they provoke during the pandemics.
 

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This interview will address some of your questions.



This video explains a lot, but none of it is surprising considering China's expansion policies. China will deny it, but considering the "countries" they invade and annex culturally without doing it publicly shows the "forked tongue" they use in politics.
 

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Good interview worth watching @Joe Shearer @Saiyan0321


At 22.40, the Air Marshal literally says what I said earlier @SHOX heh:
You beat me to reproducing it by minutes. It was exceptionally good.

None of what China does is surprising.

I think it is important to realize that if a country is run on pragmatic authorianism even though China calls it communism. They're capable of gathering a core members to galvanize the country to grow in a certain direction. And the country will grow, the infrastructure will grow. There will be many who will be poor or whatever, but if you have a masterplan, the peasents are pawns to be used up until you have kings and queens left.

The west were so convinced by their own superiority that they didn't think the Communist party would be able to hold on to continue if the west poured more money into the country.

I remember seeing a video of Bill Clinton making a joke out of China's attempt to control the internet. Well who's laughing now ?

Anyway my point is that you need institutions and organizations that exist outside the bickering of democratic leaders who are responsible for making the country grow and develop.

You can't have a government that polarizes the nation because then you're setting your own people up against each other, instead of focusing on unity and growth.
 

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China asked ? First?
Am I reading this right?

My bet.Prolly they can't sustain a long lasting build up in the west while simultaneously confronting the US in the East.

The whole chinese adventures is a big blunder btw. not just in India but basically every neighbor they provoke during the pandemics.

There are already reports of SAM engagement of PLAAF planes near Taiwan, and of a casualty.
 

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