So what’s trending? #MSDhonibirthday ! Day after deescalation, #Ladakh is of cursory interest to Tweeple. What does it say for public keeping an eye on Chowkidaar? Chinese ain’t morons. There’s method in their aggression. What was their aim & did they achieve it? My take:
1. PLA moved upto/past claimed lines, killing 20 Indian soldiers & defying nucl. weapon armed neighbour to warn others i.e. skinning the cat to frighten monkeys 2. Forced PM Modi on backfoot at home/abroad. 3. Mutual pullback demilitarises some areas India patrolled/controlled.
4. Opened new claim in E.Bhutan to insert land wedge between Bhutan & Arunachal Pradesh, flanking Tawang. It also like Doklam would test India-Bhutan solidarity. 5. Tested quasi-alliances of India with Australia/Japan/US(QUAD) & Indo-Pacific concept. 6. Big Q: Pangong Tso lake!
All PLA moves are reversible & knife shall remain held to Indian neck. Chinese statement post Doval-WangYi talk seeks: India to “guide” public opinion, “safeguard normal exchanges”(Weibo etc) & meet halfway. Onus on Modi gov to show status quo hasn’t altered & India lowered.
