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China in focus, Army’s Strike Corps units reach Ladakh as part of ‘rebalance’ strategy

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Strike Corps units, which have been dual tasked with focusing on Pakistan and China, reach Ladakh amid massive deployment by China.

Specialised elements of a Strike Corps have reached Ladakh and the soldiers are undergoing reorientation training and familiarisation as part of the Army’s efforts to ‘rebalance’ its deployment on the northern, western and northeastern borders.

According to sources in the defence and security establishment, various new elements from the Strike Corps have reached Ladakh, including certain artillery units with specialised firepower, armoured and mechanised columns as well as the infantry.

“This is part of the re-orientation training. This is not a permanent deployment as they will come back to their stations after some time. They will be replaced by the rest of the elements from the particular Corps. The Strike Corps will come into play when there is a need,” a source told ThePrint.

This development comes at a time when China continues to amass thousands of soldiers close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and carries on with heavy military construction activities on its territory, which is a clear indication that it is preparing itself for the long haul.

Sources noted that the next round of military talks between the two countries will be held after Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26 July. They said that China had proposed 26 July for the talks but India has sought a new date.

New strategy for Ladakh
In April, ThePrint had reported that the Army put in place a new summer strategy for Ladakh and also implemented key changes in the Order of Battle (ORBAT).

To counter the continued deployment by China, India has retained more troops and equipment in Ladakh, besides the 3 Division, which is in charge of the LAC, and the 14 Corps Reserve.

This is in addition to the Strike Corps that will now operate in Ladakh.

In January last year, Army chief General M.M. Naravane had announced that the Army will be looking into rebalancing deployment and strategy along the borders.

As part of the efforts, a major decision taken was the dual-tasking of a Strike Corps. This means that the Strike Corps, which used to focus only on Pakistan earlier, will now have to look after China as well. China will also be its primary focus henceforth.


For this, the Strike Corps had to let go of some of its formations while retaining others.


The armoured division of the Strike Corps had also become the Army Headquarters Reserve Division as part of the new strategy.

The corps also had a new division attached to it and they specialise in mountain warfare.

Furthermore, the 17 Mountain Strike Corps (MSC), which was earlier the only Strike Corps deployed against China, also got one more division attached to it from the East. Prior to this, the 17 MSC were operating with only one division.

Sources said that key changes of this rebalance have been implemented and the focus will now be on reorientation and training of the soldiers to cater to their new task.

 
Seeking to tackle the Chinese forces, the Indian Army pulled out units engaged in counter-terrorism operations in the Northern Command area to deploy them along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Ladakh area some months ago.

The counter terrorism division was pulled out of operations from within the Northern Command area and deployed in the Ladakh sector many months ago.

"The Division-size formation (around 15,000 troops) was moved from counterterrorist operations to the Ladakh area to tackle any possible attempt by the Chinese to show aggression there," government sources told ANI.

The movement of the formation has helped the Army to maintain reserves tasked for operations along the Northern borders.

The reserve formation positioned in the Sugar sector is trained for high mountain warfare and conducts war games in the cold desert areas of Ladakh every year. Since last year, they have been heavily involved in the stand-off with China since last year.

Army has filled in the gaps created due to the movement of the division to the forward positions using the resources available to it.

India has deployed around 50,000 troops in the eastern Ladakh sector and has helped increase the force levels by more than double.

In view of the Chinese aggression, the 14 Corps in Leh now has two divisions under it to take care of the China border including the Karu-based 3 Division. Some additional armoured units have been deployed in the area which is seeing heavy troop mobilisation since last year.

Last year in the April-May timeframe, the Chinese moved in troops swiftly from an exercise opposite eastern Ladakh and transgressed at multiple locations.

The Indian government responded in a big way and deployed an almost equal number of troops there to keep the Chinese in check.

The situation had worsened to a point where bullets were fired on the China border after over four decades and 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a clash with the Chinese who have been hiding the number of their dead in the Galwan valley clash of June 15 last year.

The Indian Army has since then been a very high alert all along the LAC and further strengthening its positions on the LAC.

Even though there has been a partial withdrawal of troops from the two banks of the Pangong lake, the tensions remain as the Chinese have been reluctant to move out from friction points in the Gogra Heights-Hot Springs area.

The two countries have held multiple rounds of talks to resolve the issue but not much success has been achieved so far. (ANI)

 
I wonder how much all of this is costing India :p: ..
A pretty penny but somethings are priceless. Though in this case moving from the western to the eastern sector might not be so expensive. Not as if new troops had to be recruited.
 
A more apt question is what is it costing mother india when Corona has already hurt her economy ?

Don't worry about mother India. We have enough to manage through a few of these crises. Same cannot be said about you without bailouts and handouts.

India
Thanks in part to these proactive measures, the economy is expected to rebound - with a strong base effect materializing in FY22 - and growth is expected to stabilize at around 6-6.5 percent thereafter. ~ Courtesy World Bank
World Bank Page - India


Pakistan
Pakistan’s economy has been growing slowly over the past two decades. Annual per capita growth has averaged only 2 percent, less than half of the South Asia average, partly due to inconsistent macroeconomic policies and an under-reliance on investment and exports to drive economic growth.

The government, therefore, focused on mitigating the adverse socioeconomic effects of the pandemic through a stimulus package equivalent to approximately 2.9 percent of GDP and a deferment of some of the fiscal adjustment measures.

Over the first half of FY21 (July to December 2020), there have been signs of a fragile recovery. With increased community mobility, private consumption has strengthened, aided by record official remittance inflows. Investment is also estimated to have slightly recovered, as machinery imports and cement sales both recorded double-digit growth rates.

World Bank Page - Pakistan
 
A pretty penny but somethings are priceless. Though in this case moving from the western to the eastern sector might not be so expensive. Not as if new troops had to be recruited.
Of cos , it good opportunity to get rid of extra dalit by having excuse to starve them to death of deprived them of oxygen tank becos of need to deploy extra resources on LAC.
 
:lol: india is making it too easy for us; a few more relocations to ladhak and arunachal pradesh and Pakistan Army will literally be able to just WALK to new delhi! :lol:
 
:lol: india is making it too easy for us; a few more relocations to ladhak and arunachal pradesh and Pakistan Army will literally be able to just WALK to new delhi! :lol:
... and still if you couldn't??
 
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