As India and China are in the midst of a drawdown in Ladakh , I summarize key information gleaned from a Chinese website
The PLA is digging in for winter and the current withdrawals are only "return to nodes" from where they can redeploy at a short notice #LAC
The conditions for the PLA soldiers on the ground have been anything but easy.
Death and injuries due to exposure ,
HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema )
and
HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema)
My theory is that this is exacerbated due to smoking addiction in the PLA.
The PLA winter stocking is an ongoing process due to better road and rail infra.
However soldiers seem to have received specialised winter equipment recently.
They have stocked special meals for the Chinese New Year which indicates a long term deployment.
Chinese MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) has a lot of variety including something called the Sichuan Cuisine ( Regional variations in play)
Some pictures of Chinese MRE supplied to the PLA in Tibet
MRE has to be heated in boiling water which takes more time at higher altitudes
Galwan led to confirmed PLA casualties and the acceptance is now more pronounced in Chinese publications.Kangsiwa Martyrs Cemetery has seen new arrivals
The current withdrawals could be a smokescreen for something planned later.We need to be very watchful across the LAC.April-June 2021 will be crucial
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2. The genesis of this war is a war of ideologies among the two sects of Islam ; 'Shia' and 'Sunni' with Sunnis being the dominant population in the Middle East , North Africa , Pakistan , Indonesia , India and Malaysia.
3. The Muslim populations of most of these countries look towards Saudi Arabia (Custodian of Mecca and Medina) or Iran for support and guidance on issues of religious conflict , regional conflict , social trends and laws. It is a dotted line relationship.
It is not often that a news article gets stuck in your mindspace.With #COVID19 spreading a pall of gloom ; new infections , deaths , ventilators , PPE and above all #China dominates every piece of breaking news
Images from @JetPhotos
However a recent story by @Ashoke_Raj for @ANI@livemint and @EconomicTimes broke the mould and brought a smile on many a face.Special Evacuation Flights by @airindian , an extra cheerful Pakistani ATCO (Air Traffic Controller) and loads of pleasanteries and praise
A story which had too many things going right for it. News that stood out as mushy and unreal and had to be investigated atleast to the extent Open Source information would allow
Drawing from Yun Sun's take on China's Strategic Assessment of India , it would be prudent to delve intio aspects other than Doklam which impact Sino-Indian dynamics.
1. The resurgence of Indian covert capabilities have gradually deleveraged the Chinese MSS in the North East.
2. The MSS used a network of human assets , training camps and ports in Bangladesh , Myanmar and Thailand to facilitate insurgency in the North-East.This included sheltering key leaders like ULFA's Paresh Barua and NSCN-K's S.S.Khaplang inside Chinese Territory.
3. Gun running by the MSS involved Chinese commercial trawlers and Thai drug dealers.The trawlers would offload arms off the Bangladesh coast on speed boats and smaller fishing boats.These were then passed onto insurgents in the North-East through Cox Bazaar and Chittagong
Let me try and piece this together in a series of tweets
The article in question is a crude attempt at a 1000 word school essay on the Arjun MBT by @KyleMizokami which has been published thrice since April 2017.The links are shared below for verification
3. Took a new course across the Great Channel and reached Phuket on 20/08/2019
4. Docked at Phuket for 5 days (Repairs ? Replenishment ?)
5. Left Phuket on 25/08/2019 and took a new course crossing Indian EEZ on the Southern Western tip of Little Andaman.
6. Between 28/08/2019 and 31/08/2019 the Shiyan 1 was conclusively in Indian EEZ until an @indiannavy Dornier- 228 detected it and a Saryu Class OPV drove it away
On Navy Day , I look into the reported violation of Indian EEZ in the Andaman Sea by a Chinese Survey Vessel Shiyan 1 in August-September 2019.
Shiyan 1 was reportedly engaged in 'research activities' around 200 Nautical Miles off Port Blair was first sighted by a @indiannavy Doriner-228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.A warship was duly dispatched which ordered the vessel to leave
The Shiyan 1 is a Research Vessel is jointly built by the Institute of Acoustics-(IOA), the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology-(SCSIO) and Shenyang Institute of Automation-(SIA) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).