Make the military strong, Mr Prime Minister. Without that, economic progress means nothing

Soldiers deployed on Siachen glacier, had reasons to be happy on Diwali day yesterday.

After all, not every day (or year) does the Prime Minister of the country come visiting laden with sweets and good wishes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised almost everyone by deciding to fly to the Siachen Glacier on Thursday before his scheduled and publicised-in-advance visit to Srinagar.

Siachen by far is the most inhospitable and difficult area to be deployed.

With altitudes ranging from 12- to 23,000 feet and temperatures dipping to 50 degrees below zero, this perpetually snow-bound glacier has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan ever since Indian troops captured the vital heights in April 1984 under Operation Meghdoot ( For details of that operation read excerpts from my book here: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=419).

Over 3000 soldiers are posted to guard the Saltoro ridge that divides Indian and Pakistani territories and gives India the edge since the Indian Army occupies all the strategic heights. The facilities on the glacier have improved way beyond the imagination of the pioneers who worked under most trying conditions (Here's a shameless plug: Please buy and read my book Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga to understand what Indian army and air force has achieved. Available here: http://www.amazon.in/Beyond-NJ-9842-Siachen-Saga/dp/9384052051/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414147961&sr=8-1&keywords=Beyond+NJ+9842).

Yet, Siachen continues to remain the most difficult area to serve in. So it was a great morale booster for soldiers and airmen to have the Prime Minister spend time with them on Diwali day. Going by the Press note from the PMO, it is also clear that Mr Modi spoke of most issues that bother soldiers and reassured them in a way.

"The Prime Minister assured the jawans that wherever they are, and serving or retired, the country stands shoulder to shoulder with them. He said their dreams and responsibilities are the entire country`s responsibility. He said he would do his utmost to ensure a life of dignity for them. The Prime Minister said the promise of One Rank, One Pension had been fulfilled, and preparations were being made for a National War Memorial, that we could all be proud of," the press note at the end of the PM's visit said.

A big assurance from the Prime Minister himself on two major issues bothering serving and retired soldiers. One, they are not treated with dignity that soldiers deserve--which is largely a societal problem, rather than administrative. (Read:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/column-the-indian-solider-and-his-struggle-with-change/20131012.htm). He has promised to take steps to lend dignity to soldiering.

The second issue--granting One Rank One Pension (OROP), that is equal pension to all soldiers irrespective of their date and year of retirement--is more tangible and completely within the control of the government. So while one would like to believe the Prime Minister when he says OROP promise has been fulfilled, many veterans have complained that there is no sign of OROP being implemented.  In view of these two totally contradictory views, the government needs to communicate clearly on what the exact status on this issue is.

Welfare of veterans is one major issue but the Prime Minister and his defence-cum-finance minister Arun Jaitley also need to take a call on reforming the country's higher defence management architecture at the earliest. Unless that is done, no amount of good intentions would bring in the much needed spring-cleaning in the obdurate and moribund defence ministry.

Much has been written and spoken about the non-existent synergy between civilian bureaucracy and the military but the latest salvo fired by former Navy Chief Adm DK Joshi, who resigned suddenly in February is worth pondering over. In an interview to me, Adm Joshi was scathing about the reality in the higher defence management structure.

He said: "The root cause is this dysfunctional and inefficient business model that we have, wherein professional competence, domain expertise, accountability, responsibility and authority, these all reside in separate silos in different locations. While professional competence, accountability, responsibility is with the service that is not the case with authority. And by authority I really mean the power to approve something, empowerment to approve something or the other. For example, change of submarine batteries, which are available indigenously or for commencing refits and repairs of ships, aircraft, submarines in Indian yards, the service does not have that empowerment. That's a broad construct as a background. Where there is authority there is no accountability. And where there is responsibility there is no authority.

"You don't have to accept this coming from me. For more than a decade now recognising fully that higher management of defence needs reforms, several expert committees have been formed. Virtually all their recommendations have been identical, but vested interests have ensured that the more substantive ones, which bring authority and accountability together, have not been approved. Some peripheral ones have been progressed but nothing substantive.

"You will be, for example, told listen we have created HQ IDS. But it's a headless wonder, its head was never appointed. I have been CISC, CINCAN tenure. I know it very well. Then they will tell you how the service HQs have been named as Integrated HQs, Ministry of Defence, but as the then Defence Secretary told the Standing Committee on Defence, the changes were mostly cosmetic as indeed they are."

The indictment of the structure that handles India's defence could not have been more severe. Adm Joshi, I must confess, was also unsparing about a section of the media for its motivated campaign against the navy but that's a different story which will have to wait for another time.

For the moment, suffice it to say only a drastic overhaul of the existing system in keeping with the Naresh Chandra Committee recommendations if not earlier reports, can rescue the Indian armed forces from their current state of despair and despondency.

Military bureaucracy in the South Block does speak about a changed atmosphere and approach to decision-making in the Defence Ministry. Service Chiefs, for instance, now meet the Prime Minister once a month, one-on-one in pre-scheduled appointments; the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which finalizes all purchases, big and small, is slated to meet at least once a month from now on, we are told; civilian bureaucrats who ultimately place orders for weapons purchase and sanction funds for crucial projects are said to call up service headquarters asking for quicker delivery of files in sharp contrast to earlier practice. So things have certainly started happening, but only in small doses.

Like he did with diesel deregulation and labour reforms, the Prime Minister must take the system of defence management by the scruff of its neck and shake it down to get optimum results. There is no other alternative if he wants to see a strong India.

For, no amount of economic progress can make India a force to reckon with if it is not backed by a hard-edged, battle ready military. Therein lies Mr Modi's major challenge.

It is the de-hyphenation of India-Pakistan that Islamabad fears the most

More than 18 months ago, I was in Dubai as part of a track II effort (my first and perhaps last such participation, given that I am not much of a Pakistan watcher) on how India and Pakistan can overcome their antipathy and strike an enduring, working relationship. The conference covered issues of common interest to the two countries, including trade, business, micro finance, IT, water, energy, climate change, public health, security, and media. I wrote briefly about it in May 2013 (http://thediplomat.com/2013/05/a-new-opportunity-for-indo-pakistan-relations/).

At the conference I spoke on the Indian military doctrine. In the course of my presentation I asserted that the Indian military has, over the past decade, re-oriented itself towards meeting the bigger challenge from China since it exactly knows how to deal with Pakistan. The underlying theme of my assertion was: India has got the measure of Pakistan's predictable military moves and knows how to counter them. The focus therefore is to try and be prepared for the bigger threat, that is China. A retired Pakistani military officer, who was among the delegates, disagreed demonstrably. "How can India forget that Pakistan is a nuclear power?  How can India ignore Pakistan's military power," he remonstrated with me. I could not, till the end, convince him that India was not taking Pakistan's military threat lightly but was merely pointing out that Indian military has moved on to prepare for a far more potent threat. He however, would not believe me.

I recall that little encounter now since the current situation on the border between India and Pakistan, I believe, is also born out of Pakistani establishment's (read the Army's) fear of losing its relevance in the Indian sub-continent. 

For long, the hyphenation of India-Pakistan has been a common international theme. But a small but subtle change in India's approach towards big international players and the immediate neighbourhood, has clearly caught Pakistan on the wrong foot. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unexpected move to reach out to SAARC leaders by inviting them for his inauguration was a surprise move, his government's decision to cancel India-Pakistan bilateral talks on the issue of Pakistan's high commissioner to India meeting separatist leaders from Kashmir despite India's warning, was totally unexpected in Islamabad. Suddenly, this was a different New Delhi it was forced to deal with.

The decision makers--Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former spymaster-turned National Security Adviser Ajit Doval--were not going be trapped into a long-held framework of 'talks-with-Pakistan-at-any-cost' that had come to dominate New Delhi's policy on Pakistan, even during the earlier avatar of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Instead, they had decided to draw new, firm red lines, even if that meant a breakdown in the dialogue process. So the first red line was 'either talk to us or talk to the separatists.' Both are not acceptable was the clear message.

Simultaneously, Narendra Modi's outreach to other smaller neighbours in the Indian sub-continent--Nepal, Bhutan and a lesser extent to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka--meant India was mending its somewhat wobbly relations with them even as Pakistan was being left out. The last straw however came late in September when Prime Minister Modi traveled to the United States.

First, at the United Nations General Assembly, Modi, much to Pakistan's annoyance, refused to react to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's mention of Kashmir in his speech. Then, more ominously for Pakistan, the joint statement at the end of Modi's meeting with President Barack Obama spoke in unambiguous terms the need to dismantle terrorist havens in Af-Pak.

 "The leaders stressed the need for joint and concerted efforts, including the dismantling of safe havens for terrorist and criminal networks, to disrupt all financial and tactical support for networks such as Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the D-Company, and the Haqqanis. They reiterated their call for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai to justice," the statement said. This was unprecedented. 

Was this the beginning of the de-hyphenation of India-Pakistan that Islamabad so dreads? Was Washington finally coming round to accept New Delhi's long-held view that Pakistan-based terrorist groups posed the biggest threat to peace in the Indian sub-continent? For the Pakistani Army, Washington's endorsement of India's stand meant its strategic assets (LeT, the Haqqanis) were in danger of being targeted more vigorously.

This, in the Pakistani Army's mind, was invitation to disaster and more dangerously, to becoming irrelevant. It had to do something to bring Kashmir back in focus and also take control of the country's foreign policy. So what does it do? Fall back on the tried and tested formula of igniting the border with India. 

Predictably, it activates the International Border (or what it calls the working boundary) since tactically and topographically it is easy to target villagers around the BSF posts. In earlier years, India would have also fired back appropriately but at the same time would have asked for an immediate flag meeting with Pakistani border guards. A lull would have followed the meeting but firing would have resumed again, making a mockery of the ceasefire both had agreed to in November 2003. This happened repeatedly in 2012 and 2013.

The current government was however not willing to follow the well-known script. 

Instead, it issued clear instructions to BSF to respond in kind and some more. The BSF was told unambiguously to retaliate heavily whenever provoked. During the weekly DGMO (Director Generals of Military Operations) conference on telephone last Tuesday and through other informal channels, Pakistan was told that talks and violence cannot go hand in hand. So flag meetings at the border were ruled out.In a clear departure from the past, Pakistan was warned that India is willing to climb the 'escalatory ladder', that is take the border firing to another level if it so desired. The idea was to impose, as Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said, "un-affordable cost," on Pakistan.

Military veterans and serving commanders that I spoke with, welcomed this unambiguous statement of intent from the highest quarters. For a decade and more, most tactical moves they made were subject to clearance from Delhi. No longer. "Now we have been given an overall policy framework but tactical decisions are left to us," a serving general in J&K told me. 

Not surprisingly, there have been fears expressed by 'usual suspects' that New Delhi is playing a dangerous game with a nuclear-armed adversary and as a bigger and responsible nation, India should not be indulging in such brinkmanship. So well-entrenched is this view in some quarters on both sides of the border that a Pakistani minister, as if on cue, promptly raised the nuclear bogey.

The fact is: between ceasefire violations and employment of nuclear weapons there are several options available with India to keep Pakistan in check. After nearly 10 days of heavy firing on the border, the tension appears to be winding down. What India must guard against is provocation elsewhere in the form of a covert attack in Kashmir or a terrorist strike in rest of the country. If that happens, the response will have to be punitive. Surely, Indian decision-makers have thought this through and have identified a point where they can terminate the current confrontation after gaining the necessary advantage. Therein lies the trick of using coercive military-diplomatic tactics.

Do serious work but don't take yourself seriously. The man who told me this is no more

Some time in 1984, in Guwahati, I was still undecided about continuing in journalism after having joined The Sentinel in May 1983. The mind was torn between giving another shot at CDS (Combined Defence Services) exam after having lost a chance to join the Indian Air Force because my graduation results got delayed and continuing with exciting but poorly paid profession of journalism, I ran into a gentle, pleasant man with impeccable manners in Guwahati's only decent Hotel, Belle Vue in early 1984.

MV Kamath was already a legend among journalists, having spent more than three decades in the capitals of the world--Brussels, Washington, London--and having edited the Illustrated Weekly, India's most famous magazine. He had come to visit north-east after a four-five year gap. People in fact remembered him for a cover story in the Illustrated Weekly in the late 1970s describing the region as 'Seven Sisters.'

One evening, then Editor of The Sentinel, DN Bezboruah, a friend of Mr Kamath, sent me on an errand--I was too junior to have interviewed him--to Mr Kamath;s hotel. As I entered his room and introduced myself, his first question was: "What is a Gokhale doing in Assam?" As I narrated my short story, father-in-the-army-posted-in-Guwahati-therefore-I am-here, etc, he ordered a coffee , made me sit down and relax and started chatting about life in Guwahati.As I opened up and told him, how I had walked into The Sentinel one afternoon for a casual interview and had started working that very evening, he remarked:" That's a great accident." His relaxed personality encouraged me to ask him a question that I would normally hesitate to ask a towering personality in the first meeting. 

I blurted out: "Sir, how do you sustain yourself in this uncertain, poorly paid and rarely understood profession?" His eyes twinkled, had a gentle, amused smile on his lips as he contemplated a reply to my seemingly silly question. As he took his time, I thought to myself, have I been impertinent?

But the very next moment, Mr Kamath put me out of my misery. He said: " Son, when I started with the Free Press Journal in the 1950s, my guru and a legend in journalism, Sadanand (I hope I have got the name right because this was so long ago) had put me at ease after I had similar doubts. You know what he told me? He (Sadanand) said as long as you do serious work but don't take yourself too seriously, as long as you realise that you are as good as your last by line and as long as you are discreet, you can be a reasonably successful journalist."

Then Mr Kamath went on elaborate the three mantras: If you are a professional journalist, don't ever think that your work is going to bring in revolution or that you are going to change the world. That job is best left to the revolutionaries (don't take yourself seriously).

As a journalist you have to perform consistently. One flash in the pan, one impact creating story is of no use to those who want to remain engaged with journalism on a long term basis; so never rest on your laurels (You are as good as your last by-line).

Discretion, moderation is the key to successful human interaction. In journalism it is all the more important. People will trust you if you keep your word, keep their confidence. ( It is more important what you don't write than what you write!)

"I have followed these principles to the 'T' and I haven't done badly," Mr Kamath said, smiling mischievously. That was surely an understatement. We chatted some more. I came back and within a month or so I decided to continue with journalism much to my parents' dismay (that story is here: http://nitinagokhale.blogspot.in/2011/11/last-week-friend-in-army-reacting-to-my.html). If I have managed to keep my head above water for the past 31 years, it is simply because I have tried to follow the three principles that Mr Kamath so effortlessly conveyed to me when I was barely 22.

Mr Kamath's influence on my life and profession continued thereafter as I made it a point every time I went to Pune to stop over at Khar in Bombay where he invariably cooked breakfast or made a cup of coffee and chatted about life, journalism and writing, sitting amidst his vast collection of books. He couldn't make it for my marriage but took a instant liking to my wife Neha, when we visited him on our way to Goa in 1988. " Its time to switch priorities Nitin," he told me as a friendly advice; "now journalism has to come second." 

Our contact became infrequent after he shifted to Manipal but I would call occasionally and he would invariably enquire about our growing family, my growth in journalism and continue to be a calming influence.

His life and work is too well know for me to recount the stellar contribution he made to journalism but one habit of his has had a lasting impact on me. Mr Kamath used to write at least a 1000 words every day on his old, battered but beloved Olivetti typewriter, no matter how busy he was. He continued to do so until his last days. The love for writing and the discipline to do it every single day kept him busy even in his 80s and early 90s. 

If I can bring even an iota of his discipline and stamina in my life, I would be more than happy.

Unfortunately they don't make the likes of MV Kamath anymore.

Thank you for all the love and wisdom Sir! 

We will miss you but wherever you have gone, you are bound to make people happy.

Myanmar: The rich poor land on cusp of big changes

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon

Me and my wife Neha took a 10-day holiday in Myanmar early this month. Here are our first impressions

Burma, now officially known as Myanmar, has an old worldly charm that India’s north eastern states once had: green topography, laidback atmosphere, poor but proud and ever smiling, courteous people. 

But first impressions can also be misleading.

Beneath the surface, however there are stirrings of change that are far reaching. The transition from military rule to democracy is of course the obvious sign of change in Myanmar but more importantly, the economy is gradually moving from a centralised, socialist system towards a more competitive, and open system. 

Airports are busy with domestic flights

For close to five decades, Myanmar fitted the description ‘rich poor land.’ Endowed with tremendous natural and mineral wealth, its 60 million people have however largely languished in extreme poverty. A change in direction by its rulers, especially under President U Thein Sein, has brought Myanmar on the cusp of a paradigm shift much in the same way as India found itself in 1991.

Since 201Myanmar has abolished its old currency exchange regime, restructured its international debt, worked very hard to end decades old economic sanctions and changed its investment laws and policies.

But traveling across some parts of the country, it is more than apparent that Myanmar’s rulers have decided to put the welfare and uplift of its common citizens at the centre of the change. Infrastructure development in the form of roads, telecom, electricity supply and transport services is improving rapidly. Even the civil aviation sector is growing rapidly with as many as a dozen private low cost airliners now connecting the distant small towns in remote provinces giving a boost to tourism like never before.

Bagan: the ancient capital

The common people are upbeat. Whoever I met—hotel managers, restaurant owners, taxi drivers, Indian origin businessmen, government officials, tourist guides—think their country is poised for an unprecedented change and growth. Economic development is on everyone’s mind. The living standards, they all say in unison, are improving; purchasing power is bound to go up. But many also had a word of caution: rapid changes should not destroy the country’s long tradition.

CHINA FACTOR

I had been to the country’s north almost 10 years ago via Moreh-Tamu and that too up to Kelemeyo. So this was virtually a first long trip. And the affinity toward India was for there to see everywhere. The most frequent starting point for conversation with us, once people ascertained we were Indians, was: “Do you know Gaya? Have you been to Gaya? Buddha was an Indian, no?”

Buddhism is ingrained in every walk of life. And the instant connect to India comes from Buddhism. And Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Was surprised to learn people still remember the Azad Hind Fauj and its exploits.

And yet, we don’t have any direct flights between Myanmar and Gaya  by any Indian airliner or even a memorial for the INA in Myanmar. 

China and Chinese on the other hand are often described as exploiters, people only interested in business and making money. The sense one gets from commoners and government middle level functionaries is China no longer calls the shots in Myanmar. Enough reports are available in public domain how the Myanmar government is distancing itself from many Chinese projects and even dropping Chinese companies from key infrastructure projects, but the important aspect to me was to see and hear even common people openly despising the Chinese and criticising Chinese goods and their quality.

Most common people I could converse with, wanted Indian goods—trucks, vehicles, clothes, hardware, and even Indian soap operas—to come to Myanmar. Most complained about India and Indians not doing enough to reconnect with their country. It is reflected in the way we Indians neglect Myanmar as a tourist destination. The official figures tell their own story.

The famous Inlya Lake fisherman

In the period between January and June this year, over 95,000 Thais visited Myanmar, followed by 60,000 Chinese and 31,000 North Americans. Only 15,429 Indians deigned to tour the next door and beautiful neighbour in this period. Tourists from distant countries such as Japan (38,000), UK (20,000), France (21,000) and even Korea and Taiwan outnumbered Indians. It says something about our priorities and world view perhaps.

India’s indifference is reflected in air connectivity or lack of it too. There is only ONE weekly direct flight to Yangon from Kolkata. Otherwise one has to fly via Bangkok or Singapore.    

WHAT INDIA NEEDS TO DO

Two years ago then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Myanmar and described India and Myanmar as "natural partners."

He suggested tapping the huge unrealised potential of the economic relationship between the two countries for mutual benefit. During that two-day trip, India and Myanmar signed a number of agreements and put in place a road map for the rapid development relations in the years ahead. 

As diplomatic visits go, it was a great success. But it takes more than usual platitudes to translate a triumphant state visit into a long lasting relationship, coming as this one does after a relatively low profile engagement over the past decade.

In fact the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Myanmar came after leaders from Bangladesh, US, South Korea and Britain had already made their forays into Myanmar. New Delhi, ever so cautious -- or laggard, depending on the prism through which one sees its approach -- has only now tentatively taken the first steps to cash in on Myanmar's opening up. As the Prime Minister pointed out: "Myanmar, with its unique" geographic location, can be a bridge linking South and South East Asia to East Asia and there is much untapped potential in our economic relationship."

The Mahamuni pagoda in Mandalay

After all, India has a major partnership with her neighbouring ASEAN countries in trade and investment. 

Myanmar, now a member of ASEAN, has become a major link between India and ASEAN countries. And North East, particularly Manipur ought to become the center of thriving and integrated economic space linking two dynamic regions with a network of highways, railways, pipeline, and transmission lines crisscrossing the region.

And therefore development of the North East is thus integral to India's policy on Myanmar.
Indian private sector companies have a good track record of setting up greenfield airports and ports. These could be additional areas of our collaboration.

The beautiful Inlya Lake in Shan State

In terms of land connectivity, India's National Thermal Power Corporation has envisioned a vision plan for the next 20 years. Additional rail link and the Sittwe-Aizwal-North Assam road link are also new plans. These should be viewed as long term strategic investments from India and be expedited.

Manipur, shares a 398-km border with Myanmar. But more importantly the border town of Moreh has been a traditional trading hub with Myanmar and therefore has vast potential to become a major export centre from India for the South-East Asian region. Here's why: According to available statistics, bilateral trade between India and Myanmar more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, expanding from $557 million to $1.2 billion, most of it through Moreh. Disappointingly though, it pales in comparison to the bilateral trade between China and Myanmar which in 2010 amounted to an estimated $3 billion.

A mother with her child outside a Pagoda: Happy people

Nevertheless, with better connectivity and implementation of various development projects, the Asian Highway would enable the North-East region to become a business hub of South Asia. Economic linkages already exist by virtue of the prevailing legal and illegal trade between India and Myanmar through Moreh, a business border town in Manipur, and Tamu in Myanmar. Concrete economic benefits are expected to come up in the region with establishment of border haats. In addition, internal trade routes have the potential to enhance accessibility to sub-regional markets that connect Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.

Thus, with the coming of the Asian Highway, Myanmar will become the point of convergence as well as the linking route between India and the other South-East Asian countries. That, in turn, will lead to the creation of more secure and safe living spaces for the populace residing on either side of the border.

But there are apprehensions too. Local people in the North East fear that the opening of the Asian Highway and absence of inadequate enforceable regulation on immigration, illegal migration into the region may increase manifold. Also past promises have not been translated into real progress.

Us at the Mandalay Palace

Many remembered November 2004, when a similar car rally was organised between Guwahati and Singapore, passing through the Indian states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. Then too, the rally was seen as the beginning of a new era in connecting India's isolated North Eastern region to East and South East Asia. Manipur, in particular hoped the new initiative would help it overcome its inherent handicap of being a remote and landlocked state, as it would have brought huge improvement in infrastructure, particularly the roads leading in and out of the state.

Alas, that was not to be.

It is the failure of actualising intent that rankles in Manipur. That, combined with multiple frustrations emanating from prolonged bouts of economic blockades, a state administration in terminal atrophy and the continued and unchallenged writ of underground armed groups, has left the people despondent. It is this hopelessness that the Centre and state government must work hard to overcome. For that, a solution to long-standing ethnic insurgencies has to be found in double-quick time.

Now is the time to press for peace and security in Manipur since politics in Myanmar are undergoing a dramatic change. With the junta taking tentative steps towards genuine democracy and showing signs of warming towards India, New Delhi must seize this moment to establish lasting trade and cultural ties with its eastern neighbour. But before India can play a larger role in Maynmar, it needs to fix Manipur's broken socio-political landscape.

A superb holiday destination so far ignored by Indians

Manipur and to a lesser extent Nagaland must take advantage of the liberalisation that is taking place in Myanmar. But that potential can be fully realised only if New Delhi starts looking at Manipur as an important starting point in India's 'Look East' policy instead as a dead end of the country's road network.

A tactical move that backfired strategically

As the first signs of deescalation appear in Chumur, it is now clear China overplayed its hand by sending disproportionate number of troops to intrude into India.

On Wednesday, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) began sending a battalion-strong (1000 men) force two km west of the original flashpoint at a location called 30 R in the Chumur sector even as a flag meeting was on to try and resolve the issue.

By intruding 4-5 km inside Indian territory with such a large force, the PLA perhaps hoped to intimidated the Indian Army. But the local commanders under 14 Corps based at Leh and the Northern Command swiftly deployed almost 1500 troops to counter the Chinese intrusion taking the PLA by total surprise.

The eye ball to eye ball standoff soon became headlines, putting visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping under pressure during his talks with  Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi broached the subject at an informal dinner he was hosting for  Xi in Ahmedabad, the Chinese side realised that a local operation had suddenly become bigger headache than they anticipated.

Preliminary assessment by India's National Security managers suggests the PLA Commanders did not anticipate India's swift counter build up and a firm stand during two marathon flag meetings on Monday and Wednesday. This was a change from previous occasions when the Indian side often appeared unsure of how to deal with intrusions and transgressions as was evident during the three week long Depsang face off in April last year.

When the current crisis began in early September, the Chinese  were taken aback by India's strong objection to a road it wanted build in Chumur.

When the presence of a small force failed to deter local Indian commanders, China tried intimidation by sending a battalion-strong force

But even that didn't work forcing President Xi Jinping to admit obliquely that incidents on border happen because it is undemarcated but the trick he said is in preventing such incidents from having a large impact.

Unfortunately for him, a tactical blunder on PLA's part at Chumur ( with his full knowledge) has turned out to be a decision with large strategic implications especially since the President was on a high stakes visit to India. 
As the troops withdraw gradually, China would introspect on what it gained by raising the pitch to a level higher than required

Why Ladakh needs the Centre's urgent attention

Video reports of our 1250 km, bone-rattling journey in Ladakh.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ground-report-from-ladakh-s-neglected-border-areas-576629

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/villages-in-ladakh-along-china-border-yearn-for-development-576977

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/near-the-border-in-ladakh-soldiers-challenged-by-lack-of-roads-577430

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in-ladakh-life-of-a-refugee-bordering-on-misery-578043

All the above reports were based on this journey chronicled below.

Day I, 28 July: We leave Leh, Ladakh's capital exactly at 7. In fact when you travel in the mountains, its always best to start as early as possible, even may be an hour before we actually left. Our first destination: Phobrang village (see map). As we follow the District Collector Simrandeep Singh's vehicle, we pass through the usual tourist sites--Sindhu Darshan, Shey--before climbing on to the Chang La, one of the highest passes in Ladakh at 17688 feet. A throng of tourists are busy clicking pictures. After all, this is the peak tourist season in the area. A quick glass of warm water and we are on our way to Darbuk.

Ten km down the road, a group of villagers

The original map by Aarti and Harsh

Our journey, marked by maroon squares

Dist Collector Simrandeep Singh reading a memorandum

from Shyok, which is slightly off the main road, stop the Collector's car. The young collector, decides to hold an impromptu roadside meeting. The villagers have come prepared with a flat, low table, carpets to sit on, tea and snacks for the collector's party. After all, not every day does the collector come visiting. After the traditional welcome, the whole party from Leh squats on the grass as villagers pour out their woes. They have a whole list of demands for their tiny village; an irrigation facility left incomplete, a road in a state of disrepair. Very basic demands but important nevertheless. Simrandeep gives them a patient hearing, asks his assistant for details of projects earmarked for Shyok and assures action on doable points. Quite apart from the instant decision making, it is refreshing to see absence of an intrusive security around the collector. The villagers are speaking to him one to one and without any fear. Its educative to see grassroots administrator in action!

At Pangang Tso

At Chushul

Twenty minutes later, we are off to Phobrang, first of the border villages along the Line of Actual Control with China. There are 22 to 26 such villages, depending on whether you consider an hamlet with barely four houses as a village or a settlement. Phobrang is co-located with an ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) camp. The ITBP, as the name suggests is the first line of border defence forces along the LAC. Established in 1963, immediately after the India-China war in 1962, the men of this force remain deployed at high altitude throughout their careers and are veterans of the China border.

An agitated villager at Merak

Local ITBP commandants sit with the District Collector for a meeting with the villagers to hear their problems first hand. Phabrong villagers have a big grouse: They are prevented from taking their cattle to the traditional pasture land close to the LAC; the ITBP has a standard reply: Agreements between India and China mandates certain restrictions and therefore they are bound by Govt of India guidelines! A refrain we were to hear throughout the 72-hour, 1250 km journey in Eastern Ladakh earlier this week.

Simrandeep Singh, the young collector

The District Collector, perhaps first such officer to visit these remote, inaccessible areas in half a decade, notes everything down in his diary, tells his assistant to take note of special needs and gives decision in some cases on the spot. He has already reversed an old ratio of spending 70 per cent of the BADP (Border Area Development Programme) funds in areas other than border villages. In this year's budget the border villages will actually get 70 per cent of the allotted money.

A quick, local lunch prepared by the villagers and we are off to Lukung, at the very edge of the beautiful Pangong Tso (lake). A string of villages along the lake starting with Spangmik, Mena, Merak takes us to Chushul late evening. An eventful day ends with a long discussion with an Army Unit which was in Assam and the one I had visited in 2007! A sumptuous dinner later, we crash around midnight tired to the bones. Tomorrow is another day.

Paying my respects to the gallant 13 Kumaonis

In contemplative mood at Rezangla

Day II, 29 July: Departure 6.45 am. Breakfast at the ITBP camp in Chushul. Astonished to learn that this post has been located here since 1963. Even now, Chushul is back of the beyond. Even now, this fairly largish village has ONE telephone that is shared between villagers, ITBP and the Army. I am left wondering what would it have been five decades ago! Nothing has changed since my last visit here in 2007 when I had stayed at this location (at 14450 feet) for two days. The road in and out of the village and Army battalion HQ is as dusty as before; electricity is non-existent; there is one weekly bus service to Leh, the district capital! We are headed to Tasga La village (see map) as a first stop. But there is duty to be done: pay our respects at the Rezang La War Memorial built in memory of the 113 brave hearts of the 13 Kumaon Battalion who fought to the last man, last bullet and died in the line of duty in the summer of 1962, facing Chinese human waves. The memory of Maj Shaitan Singh, Param Vir Chakra and his 112 ferocious Ahirs lives on at this desolate spot. Tears automatically well up as I lay a wreath at this starkly simple monument, barely a dot in the vast Ladakh flat land.

Speaking to Rinchin

At Tsaga La village, as the Collector sits down with the villagers, I am pleasantly surprised to run into a young Rinchin, prettily dressed in traditional Ladakhi dress. A post-graduate in Political Science from IGNOU, Rinchin has come back home to spread awareness and with a zeal to educate the village children. "Life has no meaning without education," she explains. "Other facilities will come with time, but the urgent need is to impart education," young Rinchin tells me. 

A Tibetan nomad

The Collector meanwhile has heard the familiar demands: a pucca road, at least one telephone connection in the village and electricity. He points out that solar energy is the focus of the government and all households should get their rightful due in some years. But agrees that roads must be built on priority.We move on. Now its going to be a minimum of five hours of drive to Demchock, at the southern most extreme point in Eastern Ladakh where frequent stand offs between Indian Army and PLA troops is common. On the way, we run into nomads who stop us and complain about shriking pastures and the tendency among Indian security forces to restrain Indian Ribos (nomads) from venturing close to the LAC. The District Collector turns to the accompanying ITBP officials and seeks to understand the ITBP argument in keeping the nomads away. Simrandeep is not satisfied. But we carry on nevertheless. As we hit the final stretch to Demchock, the ground is flat and naturally gravelled but there is no road. Army battle tanks can roll on this terrain very easily, I think to myself but even a Mahindra SUV has its limits. Two hours of bumpy ride along the Indus brings us to Demchock, the absolutely last village on the Indian side. 

The Chinese post across Demchok

It starts raining. The lone policeman, accompanying Simrandeep tells me "rain means good omen." We arrive at Demchock. Only the Demchock nallah, now overflowing because of rains, divides India and China. At a distance I can see multi-storey buildings, a watch tower and a giant ball (perhaps a radar, a snooping device) on the Chinese side. The villagers are agitated. They have been prevented, they claim from going to what is rightfully Indian territory. Local army and ITBP officials remain silent. They want to brief the Collector separately on the complex issues involved in the delicate boundary situation.

A double story colony for Chinese Ribos across Demchok

The Collector decides to go a little further and inspect the spot for himself but a sudden surge of water in the nallah prevents us from going to what is called the T-point. At the zero point on the LAC, my so-far dead phone springs to life! Text messages start coming in fast and furious! I am amazed but a closer look reveals that the signal on my phone is from a Chinese Cell phone provider! The Chinese have managed to get their mobile network right up to the LAC. On the Indian side, even a landline is rare! That tells me all that is there to know about the state of infrastructure on the Indian side!

Its getting late. We have another five hours to travel back to Hanle. If we had travelled in a straight line, the journey time would have been cut down by half but the road is incomplete, so the circuitous route it is.

A long bumpy ride back, brings us to Hanle, base to the Indian Astronomical Observatory, reputed to be the world's highest observatory. The guest house is decent but basic. Tired to the bone after a 15 hour road journey, we have a hot meal and hit the bed. But not before realising that tomorrow is going to be longer!

Villagers at Chumur

Day II, 30 July: Two days of bone crushing travel has sapped the energy but not the spirit, so we set out again around 7.30 am, this time the destination is Chumar in the news more regularly than other hot spots in Ladakh along the LAC. Once again, unusual rains have cut off the shorter route. So it is not before noon that we reach the banks of the other well known lake in Ladakh--Tso Moriri. But our destination is still at least an hour away. Chumur, on the tri-junction of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and China has been the bone of contention between India and China for the last couple of years. In fact, the April 2013, 21-day incursion by PLA troops about 300 km up north in the Depsang plains of Dault Beg Oldie is said to have been done to relieve Indian pressure on weaker Chinese positions in Chumur! Here the local councilor (equivalent of a minister) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council is present at the public meeting. And he is one angry public representative! He let's loose a litany of grievances against the government, and especially against the forces--ITBP and Army for preventing his constituents from using the traditional pastures for their cattle. " We have been going to Chepzi (an area that is been with the Chinese at least since the 1970s) but now we are stopped well within our own territory. Our pastures have shrunk. We are facing a livelihood crises," he alleges. The Collector listens to him with patience and promises to check the exact position with Army and ITBP but the assembled people will have none of it. They repeatedly request the Collector to go with them to the area, not very far from where the meeting is taking place. He agrees.

At Chumur

So our convoy heads to what looks like a disputed spot. The local ITBP commander gets the jitters. He has been told not to allow anyone beyond a certain point. But preventing local residents is one thing and stopping the District Collector is quite another. So he leads the convoy. After a 15 minute drive on a kutcha road, we are at a point called Mane up to which the PLA troops apparently come almost every second day. "They had come yesterday (29th July)," one of the local residents tells me as I do my piece-to-camera at the troubled spot. 

My colleague, cameraperson Manu Nair points out that we must be the first Indian media persons to have reached the place which is in news for almost every month for the past two years for stand offs between Indian and Chinese troops!

After a 15-minute inspection of the spot and the terrain around the area, we head back to the ITBP camp. A quick lunch accompanied by an explanation of the situation on the detailed map later, we are on the road again. 

A seven hour return journey lies ahead. Its not until 11 pm, that we are back at Leh, only to wake up again at 5 to catch the 7 am flight back to Delhi the next day!

A gruelling, 1250 km extremely educative trip is over. The back is beginning to hurt, the knees are creaking but the satisfaction of having seen the situation on ground and understood the pathetic condition of border villages in Ladakh far outweighs the pain!