The Galwan Episode

Hello Readers

 

Hope this blog finds you well!

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal!

-John Steinbeck

 

There are two news items which are hitting the stands and all channels of media.

 

One, of course, is the man-made disaster called the Corona Viral disease 2019, which is a result of man trying to over-ride nature, forgetting that nature has the upper hand and we are just particles in this universe.

 

2.The Chinese aggression in the Galwan valley 

 

What a flux of a situation, one hand you have a country which started a bio-war intentionally or unintentionally, maybe calling it a bio war may not be proved till now but, I call it a bio war. On the other hand, you have the same country who started border aggression without any provocation!

 

The First Skirmish

 

The Sino-Indian War, also known as the Indo-China War and Sino-Indian Border Conflict, was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962.

 

 A Chinese disputed Himalayan border was the leading cause of the war. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

 

When India granted asylum to the Dalai Lama. India initiated a defensive Forward Policy from 1960 to hinder Chinese military patrols and logistics, in which it placed outposts along the border, including north of the McMahon Line, the eastern portion of the Line of Actual Control proclaimed by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1959.

 

Chinese military action grew increasingly aggressive after India rejected proposed Chinese diplomatic settlements throughout 1960–1962, with China re-commencing previously-banned “forward patrols” in Ladakh from 30 April 1962. 

 

China finally abandoned all attempts of peaceful resolution on 20 October 1962, invading disputed territory along the 3,225 milometer- (2,000-mile-) long Himalayan border in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line.

 

 Chinese troops advanced over Indian forces in both theatres, capturing Rezang la in Chushul in the western theatre, as well as Tawang in the eastern theatre. The war ended when China declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962 and simultaneously announced its withdrawal to its claimed “Line of Actual Control”.

 

Much of the fighting took place in harsh mountain conditions, entailing large-scale combat at altitudes of over 4,000 meters (14,000 feet). The Sino-Indian War was also notable for the lack of deployment of naval and aerial assets by either China or India. [credits Wikipedia.org]

 

The Galwan valley issue

 

In early May, “fist fights and stone-pelting” broke out between Chinese and Indian troops at two separate sites along their disputed border. India and China are no strangers to border incidents ­— even prolonged standoffs — so the skirmishes were newsworthy but not especially noteworthy.

 

By the end of the month, Indian and Chinese media had focused attention on several points along with the Indian territory of Ladakh in the western sector of the disputed border, known as the Line of Actual Control. 

 

In this sector, that official name for the boundary is a misnomer: There is no agreement on where any “line” is, nor is there a clear mutual delineation of the territory under “actual control” of either party.

 

That record of nonfatal confrontation collapsed on 15 June when simmering tensions boiled over and Indian and Chinese forces engaged in a brutal brawl in the Galwan Valley. Involving stones and nail-studded clubs but no firearms, this clash claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers — including a commanding officer — and an unknown number of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces.

 

 It was the bloodiest confrontation on the Sino-Indian frontier in over half a century.[credits https://warontherocks.com/2020/07/indias-pangong-pickle-new-delhis-options-after-its-clash-with-china/]

 

The present situation

 

Prime minister Narendra Modi recently visited Ladakh which actually a politically stern move which motivated or boosted the morale of our warriors on the border.

 

My heartfelt condolences to the families of our dear soldiers. They were martyred in this cowardly and shameless unethical way of warfare of by the PLA.

Courtesy Google images

 

All important question

 

Can India survive without the dumping of Chinese goods, can we be independent and say a big no to Chinese goods?

 

Is this economically possible or viable? Well, they always say reality is better than flattery.

 

Realistically speaking, after doing some analytical and cumulative research, here are some findings which I could contemplate:

 

Anti-China sentiment has been on the rise in India since the fatal border clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

 

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in fighting at a disputed border site in the Himalayan Galwan Valley, prompting a swift and theatrical backlash on India’s streets.

 

• 12% of India’s imports across sectors such as chemicals, automotive components, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals.

 

• 70% of India’s drug intermediary needs are fulfilled by China.

 

• Even though India has announced self-reliance on the pharma industry so, we still have a long way to go.

 

• The gadget industry- I mean just look around your room and count how much is your share of gadgets which are either direct origination from china or licensed produced in China.

 

• Mega smartphone manufactures like oppo, one plus, Xiaomi Huawei have a significant share in the market.

 

• Lastly, the entrepreneurial unicorns like, PAYTM, ZOMATO, BIGBASKET has huge funds pumped from china.

 The way forward

 

India’s domestic manufacturing sector can substitute as much as 25% of total imports from China, according to new findings from Acuité, a rating agency. This would lead to a reduced import bill of over $8bn in a single year.

 

Handicrafts, for instance, is a category where India imported $431m worth of goods from China in the 2020 financial year without any significant reciprocal exports.

 

But Mr. Bhandari of Gateway House says boycotting popular Chinese apps such as Tik-Tok might be more effective than boycotting physical goods in terms of value-added because there are multiple alternatives.

 

Conclusion:  in the present situation as the rest of the world is dependent on China even India is conditional, but we all should work together to gradually loosen our ties from them and increasingly become self-reliant as much as possible.

 

Hope this one was informative, will be back next week.

 

Thanks for your time.

Helios.