On 15th June India & Chinese militaries engaged in a conflict.
The clashes took place in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley.
Both India & China have suffered significant casualties.
This is actually the biggest-ever military confrontation between the two armies in over
five decades.
The Indian Army stated that 20 Army personnel, including a Commanding Officer lost their
lives.
On the other hand, China didn’t disclose its numbers.
Indian radio intercepts indicate that China lost 43 of its men whereas U.S intelligence
pegged the number at 35.
Most experts believe that this incident is not one-off and a long drawn tussle is on
the cards.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how India can change its military posturing to
counter China?
Let’s get started.
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The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, also known as the Quad) is an informal strategic
forum between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India that is maintained by semi-regular
summits, information exchanges, and military drills between member countries.
The forum was initiated as a dialogue in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, with
the support of Vice President Dick Cheney of the US, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia
and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.
The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled
Exercise Malabar.
But it was unable to sustain momentum as China expressed concerns about what it saw as an
attempt at containment by like-minded democracies in the Asia-Pacific and some quarters in the
Indian strategic circle believed that peaceful coexistence with China was possible
It's time India plays a more decisive role in consolidating the ‘Quad’ at a strategic
level.
There are serval countries in Asia that are friendly to India but have disputes with China.
These countries have expressed interest in buying weapons from India.
For example, Philippine military officials had indicated last year that they are interested
in acquiring BrahMos missile.
Philippine Army spokesperson Ramon Zagala has said: “ [The Philippine ] is interested
in acquiring this type of missile as it will strengthen our coastal defense operations.”
According to the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Ramon Zagala gave the statement during the
goodwill visit of two Indian warships to the Philippines.
Viewers may not that INS Sahyadri, a “Shivalik”-class guided missile frigate and the anti-submarine
corvette, the INS Kiltan visited the Philippines on 23 to 26 October.
During the visit, the officials led by Major General Reynaldo M. Aquino toured the INS
Sahyadri and were briefed about the Brahmos missile.
Similarly, Vietnam is known to have expressed interest in several Indian weapons including
Brahmos.
Just like China has armed Pakistan as a counterbalance to India, India needs to do the same and provide
weapons support to these countries.
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon, generally
smaller in its explosive power.
These are designed to be used in battlefield situations, in contrast to strategic nuclear
weapons which are designed to be mostly targeted in the enemy interior away from the war front.
There is no exact definition of the "tactical" category on the range or yield of the nuclear
weapon.
The yield of tactical nuclear weapons is generally lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons,
but larger ones are still very powerful, and some variable-yield warheads serve in both
roles.
India has been mum on the development of tactical nukes and its thought that it is not actively
pursuing these.
It is paramount that India starts developing these so that it can thwart any large scale
armor thrust from the Chinese side.
A variable yield weapon could be very useful in this scenario.
For example, the U.S is deploying B 61 Mod 12 free-fall bomb which has “dial-a-yield”
capability, that can limit the extent of the nuclear reaction inside the warhead to lower
the explosive force.
The weapon can be configured to have an explosive power between 5 to 50 kilotons of TNT depending
on the situation.
World’s oldest and world’s most populous democracy must come together.
U.S & India have taken some steps in this regard.
In 2018, these countries have signed an important agreement.
The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) allows them to use each other's land,
air, and naval bases for repair and resupply.
It was a major step toward reinforcing defense ties.
LEMOA simplifies logistic sharing.
The U.S. Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the
near future.
Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and
Iraq, the U.S. now has the benefit of using the tremendous Indian facilities.
The US have a large number of bases around the world and this will be strategically very
helpful for India.
COMCASA is another such agreement.
COMCASA or Communications, Compatibility, and Security Agreement enables interoperation
between U.S. and Indian military.
Before the agreement, the United States had to remove advanced communication equipment
from all military platforms sold to India such as the P-8I.
For example, the United States had to place less secure temporary systems on Indian units
so the two sides could communicate during bilateral exercises.
With the signing, these restrictions are not needed and communication is much more seamless.
But there still along way to go and India & U.S need to smooth out the wrinkles and
move to the next level when it comes to sharing advanced weapons technology and intelligence.
India has a declared nuclear no-first-use policy and has developed a nuclear doctrine
based on "credible minimum deterrence.”
In August 1999, the Indian government released a draft of the doctrine which asserts that
nuclear weapons are solely for deterrence and that India will pursue a policy of "retaliation
only".
The document also maintains that India "will not be the first to initiate a nuclear first
strike, but will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail" and that decisions
to authorize the use of nuclear weapons would be made by the Prime Minister or his 'designated
successor(s)’
India's Strategic Nuclear Command or SNC was formally established in 2003, with an Air
Force officer, Air Marshal Asthana, as the Commander-in-Chief.
The joint services SNC is the custodian of all of India's nuclear weapons, missiles,
and assets.
It is also responsible for executing all aspects of India's nuclear policy.
However, the civil leadership, in the form of the CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security)
is the only body authorized to order a nuclear strike against another offending strike.
The National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon signaled a significant shift from "No
first use" to "no first use against non-nuclear weapon states" in a speech on the occasion
of Golden Jubilee celebrations of National Defence College in New Delhi on 21 October
2010, a doctrine Menon said reflected India's "strategic culture, with its emphasis on minimal
deterrence".
In 2016, India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar questioned the no first use policy
of India, saying why should India "bind" itself when it is a "responsible nuclear power”.
Keeping in view the increased threat perception, India may need to update the doctrine and
remove ’no first use’ policy.