SOURCE: SUNDAY GUARDIAN LIVE
Even as the Chinese foreign ministry has been publicly stating that it wanted to resolve the border crisis with India, information gathered from the ground shows that the People’s Liberation Army has brought in additional equipment to keep an eye on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.
The idea is to keep an eye on all movements on the Indian side because the Chinese are seriously worried that Indian soldiers will take them by surprise and retake territories that the PLA had earlier seized and now claim as their own. This has made them bring more intelligence gathering platforms on their Western border, official sources have said.
Sources aware of the developments told The Sunday Guardian that the PLA commanders are worried about Indian soldiers and hence have requisitioned additional platforms to make sure that they are not caught unawares.
The focus of the Chinese troops, as per officials, is now to defend the territory they have captured over the decades and stop the repeat of what happened on 29-30 August when Indian troops took control of strategic heights, much to the shock of the PLA commanders, who were not expecting any such action.
“Now their focus is to collect as much information as they can so that they are not caught unawares. They have brought in additional platforms and equipment that will serve this purpose (of keeping an eye on the movement of troops). They are in a defensive mode now and are focusing on how to ensure that they do not suffer any loss of men, resources and territory,” an official said.
The conflict, which began in the last days of April, is now into its sixth month, and with the Indian Army and its commanders making it clear that they will not be the one who will take the first step back, the Communist Party of China and PLA are left with limited options. India, as per official sources, has amassed a huge number of troops and platforms that can reach deep into China, both at the LAC and in depth.
“They had not planned to stay this long in these hostile areas that are going to become more hostile now due to the onset of winter. We, through our action and words, have made it clear in the past 180 days that we are not going to step back, that is something which they will have to do, whenever it happens. Their men are not accustomed to such situations and this mental pressure of living in an environment where the enemy can charge at you any moment, day or night is taking a toll on them. Our men, on the other hand, started their career by working in such situations. The winter is going to be tough for the Chinese,” another official, who is monitoring the situation, said.
