Overall deterrent posture against China made more robust
India has undertaken ‘a historic shift’ towards an offensive military posture against China. It has redirected 50,000 additional troops (and new equipment) to its Northern border at different locations. While earlier commanders had to adopt a defensive posture, this rebalancing provides them offensive-defence options, thus making the overall deterrent posture against China more robust.
The India-China standoff in Eastern Ladakh shows no signs of any thaw, other than disengagement at Pangong Tso and the Kailash Range.
It is noteworthy that the India-China standoff in Eastern Ladakh shows no signs of any thaw. There is only some disengagement at Pangong Tso and the Kailash Range. The historic shift of 50,000 troops, is based on a series of classified assessments of strategic threats that have been underway since 2006-07. Decisions about the rebalancing of forces was reached as military tensions have been evident since the past decade along the Indo-Chinese border. The security set up had been slow to react initially but their belligerence has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and India’s tightening of reins over peripheral borders.
India is now capable of positioning additional military hardware and forces, maintaining and sustaining them over extended periods, right close to the friction points, with the initial impetus by the UPA government, which have been vigorously followed through by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in both his tenures..
The IAF has, of course, got the heavy strategic lift and tactical special operations capability in the C-17s and C-130Js respectively, the Chinooks for quick lift of troops and logistics as per the dictates of mountainous terrain in Ladakh and the Eastern sector, along with the formidable AH-64E multi-role attack helicopter. The newest augmentation to the IAF’s offensive capabilities being the Rafale multi-role combat aircraft, the sixth batch of which was inducted recently.