Chinese Provocations in Eastern Ladakh : India’s Response & Prognostications

LT GEN (Dr) SK GADEOCK, AVSM (RETD)

 

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we can attack,

we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive;

         when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;

           when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

                                                                                     – Sun Tzu, 

 

Background

           A ‘Near to War’ situation in Eastern Ladakh had persisted beginning on 5 May 2020 between two colossal powers of the Asian region, which could have ostensibly conflagrated into an all-out war, given the intransigence of the Northern adversary China, along the disputed Pangong Lake in proximity of the Sino-Indian border in Eastern Ladakh. An endeavour for causative analysis has done on the subject and certain pragmatic measures recommended, which form part of the operational and strategic imperatives to checkmate the Dragon’s expansionist designs with incremental gains through ‘Smart Power’, causing gradual strategic strangulation and economic downfall of India. China’s territory grabbing technique, also referred to as ‘salami slicing’ involves encroaching upon small parts of enemy territory over a large period. China is trying to get nations into a strategically conceived draconian ‘Debt Trap’ through its systemic coercive destructive policies to attain global unipolarity and concomitantly ‘Pushing India’ towards developing a better symbiotic relationship with China rather than the USA, whom the former considers to be a Western imperialist state and its arch rival in the present Bipolar World. 

The world and the South Asian region witnessed the atrocious way some Indian soldiers of an infantry battalion, including the CO and a JCO were killed by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Galwan region of Eastern Ladakh on the night of June 15/16, which has been unprecedented and most unacceptable. This deplorable perpetration of violent action sent shock waves in our country, as such the acts of savagery committed by the Chinese PLA forces armed with unconventional assault weapons happened as a supposedly pre-meditated maneuvered operation against the Indian troops. This act of vicious barbarism unleashed by China was apparently strategized at the highest level in Beijing, testing the ‘Threshold of Tolerance and Redlines’ of the Indian polity and decision makers. The skirmishes between the two opposite forces took place at night and hence casualty figures on the enemy side remain ambiguous and the hence the inscrutable Chinese casualty figures during the standoff between the countries will ironically remain in the illusive domain. 

Game Plan: Blame the Adversary as Aggressor     

          China has been irrationally blaming India for aggression in Eastern Ladakh for crossing the LAC twice, as also for the clashes therein occurring in the region. Intrusions have been inevitable where large gaps are covered by patrolling and enemy has the initiative to exploit these gaps in the critical ‘Time & Space’ of his choosing, to retain combat ascendency in the ‘Near to War’ situations/ localised conflict scenarios. Kargil was similar, where the adversary on the Northern front of India strategically gambled by occupying the dominating heights, which could cut off the Srinagar-Leh Highway (strangulate Siachen and tackle it subsequently), being the primary artery for military build- up of Indian troops to be occupied, thereby preventing Army reinforcements and logistics to sustain operations in J&K as an eventual ‘Bargaining Chip’ to liberate Kashmir from India. China annexed Aksai Chin for providing depth to their Western Highway. So, it was very natural for the PLA to capture higher ground in Galwan to monitor the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) Road, from where interdiction by fire was possible. It also provides a launch pad for further operations towards the DBO sector. Information of Chinese border infrastructure also comes to us from foreign media, who have established deep linkages and understanding with Pakistan, who are demonstrating greater expediency with respect to completion of the CPEC mega project, close to the heart of economists in China.

       China built a road in Doklam to the Zomphiri Ridge defying the agreement with Bhutan not to alter the status quo. And just two months after disengaging the standoff with India, the satellite imagery depicted a brigade-sized force of the PLA deployed with heavy equipment North of Yadong – poised for a quick move forward. Our primary media focus and ‘Centre of Gravity’ somehow remained on Fingers area of Lake Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh region, where Chinese patrols came up to Point 4 on Fingers (Their Perception Line of LAC) and the Indian patrols to Point 8 (Our Perception Line of LAC) on the Fingers North of the Pangong Tso. However, when the Chinese came with a larger force, they did not go back from the Finger at Point 4 and on the contrary, constructed a temporary Post claiming it’s their right to construct up to their Perception Line of LAC, which was legitimately objected by the Indian troops deployed in that area. On similar analogy, we can try to recall the strategic China-Pakistan conspiracy to make India vacate the Saltoro Range for enabling a China-Pakistan collusivity and link up along the Shyok River giving all areas North of Shyok to China. These are the typically concealed motives of a larger strategy with ‘opaque offensive’ designs by the PLA, which it progresses with utmost deception, known only to those who are directly concerned. Significantly, the statement which was issued by China’s Western Theatre Command on the evening of June 15, in the Galwan River Valley stated that, the Indian troops crossed the LAC again and conducted illegal activity and deliberately launched provocative attacks, triggering violent physical conflicts, which resulted in casualties. They asserted that sovereignty of Galwan valley has always been the preserve of China and demanded India should immediately stop all violations and provocations in the region. This was sheer ignominy for India, who believed that the talks with China may not work, as they will try and further consolidate at Galwan and possibly make some intrusions in other areas too. 

Standoff Incident at Galwan Complex

       UN Chief Antonio Guterres had urged ‘maximum restraint’ on both China and India after the soldiers were killed in violent clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan valley. It was during the unfolding of that process, being supervised by battalion and brigade commanders on ground, that few Chinese soldiers armed with Shaolin swords and spears attacked the CO of the infantry battalion and four or five soldiers escorting him on a “verification trek’ that took them to Point The Chinese allege that these troops had burned down one of their tents, which the Indians wanted dismantled and that provoked the furious assault. The tent had supposedly been dismantled following a meeting between GOC XIV Corps, and Major-General Lin Liu, the head of the Xinjiang military district. Inside two days of the disengagement agreed to at Chushul on June 6, the PLA set up a fresh tent at Patrol Point 14, inside the territory claimed by India. The PLA quite ambiguously refused to vacate Point 14 and when the CO and his soldiers went to ask for dismantling the constructed post, they were attacked viciously. Almost simultaneously, PLA assault troops armed with swords, spears, iron roads wrapped in barbed wire and other lethal weapons attacked multiple Indian patrols lightly armed with sticks and iron rods. Both armies had asked soldiers patrolling the disputed border to leave firearms behind in their bunkers to avoid a firefight that might escalate into war. The CO and two of his escorts were mercilessly killed on the spot, but the others ran back to their camps to report the death of the CO in a ‘treacherous attack.’ Soldiers reacted from the battalion and instantaneously took out their bayonet mounted rifles and attacked the Chinese in some of their encampments late at night. But, by then PLA snatch squads had attacked some small Indian detachments, all on ‘verification patrols’ and this led to fatal casualties on both the sides. Many Indian soldiers had a Hobson’s choice, but to jump from the cliff into the freezing Galwan river to escape the ruthless PLA onslaught. The savage combat has been very unprecedented, which claimed the lives of brave Indian soldiers, including the CO; many fatalities also resulted attributed to protracted exposure to sub-zero temperatures. 

The Indian soldiers, initially surprised by the ferocity of the Chinese assault, regrouped and attacked the Chinese in strength. Two Chinese encampments, which PLA stated that it was well within Chinese territory, faced swift Indian retaliation. The PLA alleged that Indian troops crossed the buffer zone separating the two sides, violating border-management protocols which mandates the use of white flags and banners to signal to the other side that it must turn back from the territory it is on. Large number of dead bodies, Indian military officials say, were handed over by the PLA and the Indian Army after the situation calmed with both sides apparently asked by higher headquarters to back off following hotline communication between senior commanders. The Chinese deaths were mostly inside their positions which faced the wrath and tenacity of the Indian soldier’s retaliatory assaults past midnight. The Chinese aim was to disgrace the Indian Army by their offensive actions, deter further actions by de-motivating our soldiers and demonstrate their regional combat power ascendency over Indian Armed Forces.

Chinese Cyber Attacks against India

        China has opened another front against India with sustained DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks on Indian information websites and the country’s financial payments system. DDOS attacks are malicious attempts to overwhelm a network by flooding it with artificially created internet traffic. A variety of targets were zeroed in on, including government websites and the banking system including ATMs. Most of the attacks were traced back to the central Chinese city of Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan province. Chengdu is known for being the headquarters of the PLA’s Unit 61398, the Chinese military’s primary covert cyberwarfare section. Chengdu is also home to many hacker groups, many of whom are hired by Chinese government agencies to provide a cover for their operations. Chinese Apps and Malware will wreak havoc, besides the embedded 5G Systems being produced by ‘Huawei’ MNC, which has been banned by many nations already. China will attempt in all probability to crack all our secret codes & systems thereby paralysing our banking systems & economic transactions in a global dimension and unimagined magnitude. The Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In) reported around 6 lakh cyber security incidents in the first half of 2021. 

Soon after the clash at the Galwan Valley, a Chinese hacker group known popularly as RedEcho tried targeting Indian power sector networks and seaports. The group RedEcho is allegedly part of the Chinese military intelligence unit based in Urumqi, in north-western China. The most important thing to worry about is the cyber security readiness of India and Indian companies. Several China-based hacking groups have stopped using tools such as Winnti and Cobalt strike to newer technologies such as Shadowpad and other malware families. But the above-mentioned intrusions were carried out using Winnti and Cobalt strike platforms. The Indian networks were not protected against such cyber threat tools. India needs to be a step ahead in terms of protecting data in cloud, both private as well as public. In 2021, India has already seen numerous high-profile hackings of citizen data which includes the leaking of personal data of 4.5 million passengers of an airline.

The key reasons to carry out such an activity is to carry out espionage activities and use it for future escalations till another faceoff. The Insikt Group strongly believes that the TAG-28 is a Chinese state-sponsored threat activity group tasked with gathering intelligence on Indian targets. Their attribution to China is predicated on their use of Winnti malware, which is exclusively shared among several Chinese state-sponsored activity groups, and their targeting of at least three distinct Indian organisations in this campaign. Intruding into systems such as the UIDAI, which possesses fingerprints, retinal scans and photographs of close to 89 per cent of India’s population, is a brilliant training data set to enhance China’s facial recognition and artificial intelligence machines and algorithms. Such real-life databases are best suited to train AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms and machine learning platforms. Aside from the criticality of PIIs, data breaches in UIDAI or the Aadhaar databases can pose very high-security related challenges to individuals and their personal bank accounts and other functions can be hacked with PIIs.

Reasons for Chinese Strategy: Provocation and Annexation

           No foreign diplomat has understood China better than the legendary Henry Kissinger, who in his book on China, narrates an interesting tale in the context of the Indo-China war in 1962. He recalls that in October 1962, the then supreme leader of China, Mao Zedong, called a meeting of his top military commanders and political leaders in Beijing. This was when China was engaged in a military conflict with India and Mao had decided to break the stalemate. He told his audience, “China and India are not doomed to perpetual enmity. They could enjoy a long period of peace again, but to do so, China had to use force to ‘knock’ India back ‘to the negotiating table.” Kissinger writes that “China executed a sudden, devastating blow to the Indian positions and then retreated to the previous line of control even going so far as to return the captured Indian heavy weaponry”. Today, when India is engaged with China in its worst crisis since 1962, those words of Mao Zedong come true. What is most baffling is the unethical audacity demonstrated by the Chinese troops that they decided to be aggressive against India, when the military leaders of both the countries are involved in trying to find peaceful solutions to regional stability and equilibrium? Chinese troops entered the Indian territory, naked assertion by the President XI Jinping to showcase his combat potential to the CCP and the Covid stricken world of making India bow down to their supremacy as the leading Asian giant taking advantage of the global pandemic crisis.

     On June 5, 2020 the Global Times again published an article which said, “Since Modi began his second term, India’s attitude towards China has changed…it is fair to say that India has been active in many US plans to target China.” These are strong words and obviously China has been sending feelers to India and it was up to the leadership of the country to take the hint. An incontrovertible truth is that, a sovereign and proud country like India cannot be pressured to conduct its foreign policy according to the totalitarian diktats of another nation, but it is also a fact that India can’t ignore the feelings of a big power like China in its neighbourhood. Indian leadership had virtual conferences with the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, at a time when the Chinese had occupied India’s territory, as both India and Australia were opposing the expansionist fascism of China and besides its abominable exposure as the exporter of the Wuhan virus to the world, despite the warnings and its redoubtable posture on the issue challenging WHO and the comity of nations. The government’s effort to change the geographical landscape of J&K was also not appreciated by the Chinese leadership. The statement by Home Minister Amit Shah in parliament during the discussion on Article 370 that ‘Aksai Chin in Ladakh is a part of India’ seems to have provoked the Chinese leadership. An article was penned by a senior Chinese official, Wang Shida, very recently. He wrote that “Abrogation of Art 370 posed a serious challenge to the sovereignty of Pakistan and China”. After the abrogation of 370, China went out of its way to support Pakistan. It was because of China that for the first time in the last 50 years, Kashmir was discussed in the Security Council of the United Nations, though informally.

          Chinese troops entering Indian territory in areas of the Galwan Valley is indicative of of its evil designs to humiliate India and hence our politico- military diplomacy mandates to be conducted sternly from a position of strength. But India certainly cannot afford to be aggressive for two reasons. Firstly, China had very carefully chosen the timing of its operation, as it entered Indian territory during the Coronavirus lockdown when the country was dealing with an economy downturn. Secondly, if China’s defence spending is 261 billion dollars, then India’s is only 71 billion dollars. Since 2000, China has been working on the plan to make its army the most powerful in the world by 2049. Chinese President Xi Jinping in May asked the military to “scale up the battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenario.” India is a responsible nation which relies on diplomatic and back-channel talks to defuse tensions. Recent events in Hong Kong with ugly protestations, the creation of artificial islands in South China Sea and demonstrating imperialistic projection of power by PLAN which has been resented by Asian nations, Taiwan, Japan and Australia, also blatant disregard for human rights in subduing Uighur Muslims and Censorship on Covid 19 emergence/ connected issues manifests the arrogance and totalitarian regime of the President of China. The President is desperately trying to draw the attention of the Chinese people away from the internal turbulence of unemployment due to foreign companies closure, Covid induced economic slowdown, eco-strains of sustaining mega projects of BRI and colossal loans given by Bank of China to large many nations as credit, also the trepidations of expected sanctions against China, cases of remuneration to developed nations who received fake Testing Kits/ PPE/ Ventilators from China for the patients suffering from the disease resulting in deaths of its citizenry, above all being a culprit to creation and proliferation of the ‘Wuhan Virus’ (purportedly created at the research wing of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan, Hubei), leading to unprecedented millions of human deaths on this planet.

Way Forward: India from Galwan to Peace & Stability

Military Capabilities.    This is not the time for India to react impulsively against the Dragon, but mandates special two pronged endeavour to diffusion of crisis to a ‘Status Quo’ position and withdrawal of forces to previous location with maintenance of minimum force levels (to be defined in Talks) through politico-military dialogue and diplomatic rapprochement. However, concomitantly the deterrent forces must be enhanced with high end technology spectrum for ‘Network Centric Warfare’ capabilities to fight the adversary in one of the highest battlefields of the world. 

• CDS should be nominated at an early date in these critical times; preferably the COAS to be elevated to CDS and the next senior most VCOAS/ Army Commander to be nominated as COAS. The responsibilities are phenomenal, viz from heading the DMA and its Secretary in the MoD, being PMA to the RM on all Tri-Service matters, being the PCOSC, member of the DAC, Military Advisor to the NCA, ensure jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, optimal utilisation of infrastructure, implementation of the Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow to of Integrated Capability Development Plan, conduct reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.

• Indian Defence Budget spending may be around USD 1 Trillion in the next ten years of which about one third on Capital Procurement would be required for capability building. However, realistic projections are imperative to ensure that such large outlay on capital acquisitions is optimized. The National Security Doctrine (NSD) must be finalized at this critical juncture, when the world is witnessing new paradigm in strategic alignments, power centers of multi-polarity, regional flux in traditional alliances, acceptance of Taliban governments (terrorist states), reforms in radical Muslim states, NATO challenges and Russian resurgence and attempts to imitate the expansionist ideals of China for larger economic gains through unethical exploitative politico- military means.

• The Military Equipment, platform centric weapons and systems with all existing deficiencies to be made up in the Armed Forces by December 2022 and these should be selected from the most modern inventory of defence systems in the world, keeping the aspect of quality, durability and reliability and to be ‘Made in India’ (Atma Nirbhar Bharat) on Priority for the Armed Forces. If security is compromised, then sovereignty of the nation is jeopardised. The battle gear uniform and weaponry, encrypted radio sets and GPS digitised maps, Night Vision Devices and portable smaller size drones etc of the soldiers must be upgraded phenomenally like the SF. The Army Design Bureau and the corresponding Naval and Air Force Indigenised Innovative Design Bureaus to be galvanised into productivity with designated timelines with outcomes under DMA and MoD initiatives. Budget allocation and Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) must be geared to acquire defence hardware earliest without bureaucratic delays.

• The Military Formations opposing the Chinese must have highly motivated ‘Special Forces (SF)’ component (exceptional soldierly abilities) with suitably trained troops at HAWS to fight in High Altitude, exhibiting toughness and aggressive DNA (eg. Tibetan & Ladakh Scouts soldiers blended with SF for best effect of Killers’ Instincts). Develop ‘vertical envelopment’ capabilities with SF for surgical strike missions in Tactical Battle Areas (TBAs), depth areas conforming to the envisaged operational/ strategic tasks with surprise and deception in all sectors to undertake multiple trans-LAC strikes, supported by attack helicopters and long range vectors, maintaining high third dimension strike capability for destruction of enemy assets, systems, logistics and overall warfighting potential.

• Chinese emphasis on ‘Digitised Battlefield’ dynamics and the paradigm in tactics, newly acquired weapon systems, drones and third dimension surveillance capability, hybrid warfare and its effects (combined conventional and asymmetric conflict), concentrated fire assaults by artillery rockets and firepower simultaneously on the first, second line defences and depth areas. Therefore, own forces must be adapted and trained to counter these new tactics and neutralize enemy combat potential by optimization of high-technology weapons and equipment with ‘audacity in land warfare’ for complete success in battle.

• The Military hardware, ie tanks, ICVs, Artillery & Air Defence guns with top delivery multiple warhead munitions, Night Vision Devices, Surveillance Radars at all levels co-opted with Intelligence devices, Drones (variants with different capabilities, ie combat & administrative), Satellite Communication equipment sets & modern Radio Telephony sets with encryption devices, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics Unit, HUMVEE vehicles/ indigenised TATA armoured vehicles with laser weaponry and missiles, modern Underground Joint Operations Room (UJOR) up to Battalion level with Satellite & Intelligence & Information Warfare Connectivity, combat responsive Logistic support units. 

• The CDS/ Chairman PCOSC to ensure that the Director Generals of all Arms and Services along with the Air Force counterparts develop future strategies of RMA & RML synergised to fight effectively in mountainous areas as part of a ‘Mountain Strike Corps’ of Eastern Command and another Mountain Strike Corps for Northern Command to be created from the rationalization of Strike Corps elements of Western theatre and front against Pakistan.  Imperative to conduct joint military integrated exercises based on Galwan Valley High Altitude dynamics to address the criticality and draw cogent solutions and implement it within few weeks and months as short, medium term measures to eradicate the shortfalls and inconsistencies. Composite forces are successful under dynamic leadership against any adversary, when they are jointly trained in synergised integrated operations.

• The Director General Defence Intelligence Agency (DG DIA) requires to be extremely proactive and give productive inputs of reporting build ups of enemy in remote areas of our frontiers with 24×7 multi-dimensional ISR capabilities, so obviate any possibility of being surprised. It is intended to screen communication metadata and co-ordinate the intelligence gathering activities of other agencies. The modernised ‘Joint Intelligence Room’ should have world class monitors and digitised automated systems and associated software to provide Realtime Intelligence (Live streaming) of operations in all countries of the world. The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is a technical intelligence Agency under the NSA in the PMO, which includes the National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD), first of its kind in Asia; develops technology capabilities in aviation and remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cyber security, cryptology systems, strategic hardware, software development and strategic monitoring, which would give excellent dividends with proper guidance by the leadership. 

• Therefore, upgraded transformation is required to efficiently focus towards proactively analysing and creating the ‘Intelligence Imperatives’ for the Armed Forces on the adversary. We must further revamp and re-define the ‘Information Warfare’ Branch in the Army and the tri-services, for efficacious ‘Perception Management Plan’ for War, towards enablement of strategizing multiple options for visualized operations. It is a national imperative to develop ‘cutting edge’ technology in multi-dimensional intelligence gathering systems & enhance cyber security qualitatively manifold. Greater accountability from all Govt organisations with constant updates under the able leadership of the NSA must be undertaken with a professional approach and conscience and similarly by the by the three Chiefs, who require to re-orient the contours of bold offensive defence operational planning to achieve transcendent ascendency over the adversary.

• All scientists under the Chairman DRDO’s new mission plan of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ to be oriented with latest requirements and prioritised projects with commensurate funding to be identified during the Conference of the CDS/ Chairman PCOSC and the CCS. This must ensure that all pending trials of military equipment are undertaken earliest and production is done of all weaponry and warlike items in minimum period and produced for the forces on a short term and medium-term basis, with least gestation period. Induction of hardware into the Armed Forces must be done in time frame to prevent any possible criticality and embarrassment to forces in contact with the enemy.

• The development of road communication network, logistics bases for ammunition dumps, supplies and reinforcements with technical machine handlers and Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs) for MMRCA IAF aircraft must be given Priority. The Leadership requires to be of the highest order at all levels, as displayed by the Indian Bravehearts in the face of the enemy. The PMO and Ministries under Chairmanship of the PM to give primary focus and monitor the ‘Master Plan for Ladakh, Kashmir & Northeast India’ for the Indian Armed Forces. We must also ensure enhancing the threshold of mobilization and build-up of fighting formations in least time period on multi-mode transportation system matrix planned for the Army by DG OL of IHQ of the MoD (Army) and HQ IDS for tri-services, based on a modern infrastructure and road communication network. 

• The National Security Doctrine requires to be reviewed and approved by the CCS/ Chairman PCOSC and the CCPA. The National Security Council and the National Security Advisory Board would have to strategize the doctrinal philosophy with new paradigm for all the ‘Theatres of War’ on the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Peninsular India and the CDS/ Chairman PCOSC to harmonise the National Defence Strategy for the tri-service commands to take all contingencies of joint multi-dimensional conventional and ‘Hybrid Warfare’, as part of the Defence Planning Committee under the NSA. The ‘Non-contact Warfare’ doctrinal philosophy must be analysed and then discussed at the tri-services level and thereafter at the highest level of CCS for its bold implementation related to the strategic issues, restructured forces and their weapon systems in the envisaged Integrated Theatre Command.

• The PM should be briefed along with the designated Council of Ministers on the shaping of the future Strategic Landscape for India with its turbulent Neighbourhood. We require consistency in focusing on critical strategic vulnerabilities as a Nation and taking cognitive action, not to wake up when the Kargil or Galwan happens, then ironically mourn the death of our Bravehearts from the Armed Forces and make national resolve against the adversary on all media channels till the next catastrophic and ignominious incident happens! In October 2013, India and China had signed a Border Defence Cooperation agreement to ensure that patrolling along the LAC (4056 kms long) does not escalate into an armed conflict. The Indian strategic interests are paramount and therefore imperative that we must be very resilient and force multiply endeavours, so that our cumulative impact in the specific area of dispute should be phenomenally imposing to deter Chinese troops and force them to withdraw to the earlier Perception Lines of the LAC, or else India would be pushed harder, because China is militarily and economically stronger, having a powerful CNP.

• Diplomatic level parleys and delegations from MEA, Secretary level downwards to meet the Chinese counterpart with experts selected by the NSA must be ensured  ‘No Under Dog Attitude’, firm and polite ‘Concept of Negotiations’ to be formalised and the non-negotiable areas to be clarified to China. Irresponsible insinuations/ ignorant utterances/premature chest thumping should be curbed in mainstream social media, as it has a deleterious impact on the image of the Nation and fuel for anti- India rhetoric. Indian Model for ‘Strategic Communications’ should be conceptualised as a policy and adopted for exceptional gains, conforming to National Interests.

• A ‘national revolution’ should sweep the nation to ban Chinese items, software and hardware, cancel all existing contracts/ MoUs/ partnerships and those in pipeline to be suspended legitimately with legal sanctified norms. All firms must get replacement of Chinese firms’ contracts with other interested nations expeditiously through Niti Aayog and Commerce Ministry, either in the designated SEZs/ in locations of infrastructural development, conforming to specialized manufacturing items/ commodities with geographical compulsions of material resources. This would be facilitated through ‘Single Window Clearance’ system evolved by GOI for the FDI stakeholders. 

• India must maintain a tough stand and concomitantly endeavour to motivate, stimulate, generate, galvanize a formidable military force against all adversaries, catering for a ‘Multi-Front’ War on land frontiers, aerospace and maritime domain, by mobilization of all human and material resources of India, catering to emergency situations. The economic capabilities of the nation has to be given Top Priority with a dynamic and befitting professional Finance Minister of the Nation, so that the economy ensures the GDP is given the desired thrust by a multi-pronged Economic Strategy in the Covid period and India must Pledge to be a 5.0 Trillion Economy despite Covid by 2025, with ruthless eradication of corruption, poor governance, rampant poverty, inadequate healthcare and illiteracy in the Nation.

Measures against Cyber Attacks

The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) is an operational cybersecurity and e-surveillance agency in India, headed by a retired Lt Gen from the Indian Army, who must be entirely accountable to the CCS for all pervasive issues pertaining to policies, doctrinal issues and hacking of sites by adversaries with Counter Cyber Secure operations to firewall own systems from vulnerability. Suspension of all electronic and defence -oriented accessories from China and those already purchased to be investigated and cleared by the National Cyber Security Board (NCSB) within timelines will have to be enforced. 

• Drive a Culture of Cybersecurity Investment and Strategy.     As a leader committed to the cybersecurity of your organization, ensure your company follows best practices for cybersecurity including employing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and keeping software up to date. Refer to CISA Cyber Essentials Starter Kit: The Basics for Building a Culture of Cyber Readiness and NSA’s Top 10 Mitigation Strategies for best practices.

• Ensure the Organizations have Incident Response Plans.       Ensure personnel are familiar with the key steps they need to take during an incident, have the accesses they need, and are positioned to act in a calm and unified manner. Ensure personnel know how and when to report an incident. The well-being of an organization’s workforce and cyber infrastructure depends on awareness of threat activity. Join other industry leaders and report incidents to help serve as part of CISA’s early warning system (see the Contact Information below). For guidance on responding to an incident, refer to Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA20-245A: Technical Approaches to Uncovering and Remediating Malicious Activity.

• Stay Informed about Chinese malicious Cyber Activity.      Ensure security personnel monitor key internal security capabilities and can identify anomalous behaviour. Flag any known Chinese state-sponsored indicators of compromise (IOCs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for immediate response. Use technical resources on Chinese malicious activity, such as us-cert.cisa.gov/china and nsa.gov/What-We-Do/Cybersecurity/Advisories-Technical-Guidance, to help ensure your security personnel possess the information to identify and report malicious cyber activity.

Conclusion 

Beijing has engaged in increasingly aggressive unethical behaviour throughout the Indo-Pacific, even as the global community was battling the deadly and most abominable coronavirus pandemic for the past two years, exported through its inhuman conceited endeavour to devastate the population and world economy by inflicting a biological Armageddon. Whether it was cutting off Vietnam’s access to its fishing waters, undermining Hong Kong self-rule, deploying military submarines to threaten Japan or contesting Indian territorial sovereignty along the LAC, the Chinese leadership has unleashed infinite painful suffering on humanity and will one day pay equally for its sins. The crisis precipitated and strengthened America’s resolve to work towards building its relationship with India as a bulwark against Chinese aggression and feels strongly that the Indo-Pacific region is India’s ‘Theatre of Opportunity’. China is also engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea, where it has built and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade. China claims almost the whole of South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area. 

The US has strengthened the QUAD mechanism amongst the leadership of the US, Japan, India and Australia, as also the trilateral formats are really important for strengthening the institutional support and fostering the multinational cooperation that will contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific, to checkmate the Dragon. The US is showing great determination in coming to the aid of Taiwan militarily and its actions will have complete support from the QUAD nations, European powers like France, UK, Germany and some ASEAN nations. China has many domestic problems like economy slow down, an aging population, proclivity of its dictatorial leadership to meet these challenges with risky ventures, like the faceoff along the LAC with India, followed by the present problem that it is creating in the Indo-Pacific, is not likely to pay the desired dividends of keeping its domestic flock under control with a show of power. The cleverly construed ‘debt trap’ issue will not be tolerated by the nations to bargain for its ancestor’s rich lands and ostensibly it would boomerang badly, producing a cumulative paralytic impact on China, which will take many years for the country to recover. The country has lost the ‘TRUST OF HUMANITY’ till eternity, the ‘WORST POSSIBLE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP’ in this millennia.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LT GEN (Dr) SK GADEOCK, AVSM (RETD) in his distinguished military career, has served two Presidents, viz Dr Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy & Dr Giani Zail Singh at Rashtrapati Bhawan,. As a young officer he was appointed as  Adjutant of National Defence Academy. He later graduated from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and went on to command  an Armored Brigade . He was Logistics Advisor to Botswana Defence Force, at Gaborone, Botswana in Africa, where he established their ‘Defence Logistics Command’. He was Director in Military Operations Directorate, Brigadier Quartermaster General in a Corps Headquarters in North Eastern Sector, commanded an infantry Division with distinction, was Lieutenant General General Staff (LGGS) in an Operational Command Headquarters. He was specifically selected by Chief as Commandant, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in 2014, where he received many national awards. Under his visionary leadership, Defence Services Staff College was conferred with coveted Golden Peacock Training Award 2016 at Dubai and ‘Special Commendation’ for Golden Peacock Environment Management Award 2016 by Institute of Directors, New Delhi. The Hon’ble President of India presented the ‘Presidents Colors’ to DSSC on 09 September 2016, under his stewardship as the Commandant, for holistic transformation of the Staff College. 

The General was awarded ‘Scholar Warrior Badge & Certificate’ by the Army Commander of Indian Army Training Command and won both the ‘Indian Books of Records’ and ‘Limca Book of Records’ for conducting the biggest ‘Nilgiris Eco Trail Run’ towards Conservation of Ecosystem & Biodiversity in the Nilgiris. Awarded ‘Life-Time Achievement’ Award 2016 for his contribution to the Armed Forces, Society and Nation building by Rotary District 3201, Rajiv Gandhi Gold Medal Award by GEPRA. At London, he was bestowed with the ‘Distinguished Fellowship Award’ 2016, by Institute of Directors. 

He is presently serving with Amity University as DG Amity Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies (AIDSS), Vice President Science Technology Innovation Foundation (ASTIF), Vice Chairman Amity Institute of Defence Technology (AIDT) and Commandant, Amity Institute of Education & Training. Created the Amity ‘Think Tank’ of Defence & Strategic Studies as a global research forum and initiated the PhD, MA and BA Degree programmes in Defence & Strategic Studies. Member of Governing Council ‘Raisina House’ New Delhi, Distinguished Member of Society for Aerospace & Maritime Defence Studies (SAMDeS) and Senior Advisor Indus International Research Foundation (IIRF). Email skgadeock@amity.edu