Battle of Galwan has come as a rude awakening for people of India. On 16/6/2020 afternoon came reports that one Colonel and two jawans had died in skirmishes with Chinese on the night of 15-16. At night came the news that 20 are dead.
Line of Actual Control stand-off has been going on for sometime. In April and May there were Chinese army movments along LAC and they occupied Indian territory. Indian Government was slow to act and when Chinese occupation became public knowledge it tried to downplay the incident and questioned the patriotism of people who raised questions about occupation. Foreign media reported occupation and POTUS Donald Trump offered to mediate. Indian Government did not accept the offer and talked of solving the problem by bilateral talks. Indian and Chinese army officers held talks and it was said that both sides will disengage or withdraw. At one place there was report of withdrawal. At Galwan, China claimed it was in its territory and battle followed. It is no use to say not a single bullet was fired. When lives are lost it does not make a difference whether they were lost to bullets or to batons, clubs, sticks and stones.
This Battle has to be linked with two other events. One is continued infiltration in Kashmir from Pakistani side. Second is belligerence by Nepal. Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli claimed part of Indian territory i.e., Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhyra in Uttarakhand belongs to Nepal. That territory was not in Nepal’s map. So he called for Constitutional Amendment to change Nepal’s map to show that territory as beloging to Nepal. All political parties of Nepal supported him. Nepal has 275 members in House of Representativess. Of these 258 were present and voted for Amendment. The Bill has gone to National Assembly which has 59 members and 50 belong to ruling party Nepal Communist Party and members of other parties also support Amendment. Nepal has moved its army to No Man’s Land between India and Nepal. Some Indians in Bihar have land in Nepal. They wanted to go there to till the fields. There was commotion at the border. Nepali police fired on Indians. One Indian died.
It is time for India to get real with Nepal and not talk of food and blood (roti-beti) ties as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did. It is no use of talking civilisational and cultural ties and humanitarian assistance.
Magnanimity is foolishness. India gave up the land it won in Kashmir in 1965 and 1971 wars. It is said Lal Bahardur Shastri succumbed to pressure from Nikita Khrushchev and signed Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Indira Gandhi did not have such pressure to sign Simla Treaty in 1972. In 1974 she gave Kachchateevu island to Sri Lanka. After that Indian fishermen have suffered losses. Sri Lankan navy has killed or injured Indian fisherman, destroyed their boats and dumped their catch into the sea.
China had evacuated its citizens from India some weeks back. It has prepared for war and Nepal and Pakistan are its allies. India should be ready for war with three countries on air, land and sea. China and Pakistan are nuclear powers. Be ready for nuclear war.
Well written article