Former RAW Additional Secretary Jayadeva Ranade on Wednesday said, “The manner in which China has brought in its troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) indicates that its aim is more than just to probe and test the waters with India”.
“It is either a prelude to something else or preparation for some action that they are going to take,” said Jayadeva Ranade, who studied the Chinese army for years during his service.
Elaborating upon his observation of the ongoing Sino-India crisis over the LAC in Ladakh, Ranade said that by doing what China has already done, it has put India under sustained military pressure.
“By shifting the areas of confrontation along the LAC they will stretch our troops (deployment) and will tire them out before doing something somewhere else,” he said.
Ranade was one of the panellists at the evening show hosted by a new channel..
He said all these developments should put India on high alert given the fact that this comes at a time when there are talks of disengagement with China.
“While we are talking to the Chinese, we should not be the first one to withdraw,” Ranade said.
Speaking in a similar vein, defence expert Col (retd) Ajai Shukla, said, “That (probing and posturing) is done during war games. This isn’t done by actually attacking a country and risking a full-blown war,” Col Shukla said.
“The Chinese tend to weigh in and lay down their plans and objectives in advance before taking any step. At present, China has already crossed the LAC in Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso lake area,” he claimed.
Lt Gen (retd) Sanjay Kulkarni, former DG Infantry, on the other hand said while the Chinese are testing waters with provocation, they can’t be trusted anymore.
“Chinese deployment is not very large. It is just big enough to poke us. China has opened its cards and now is the time to be prepared on all fronts. It (China) is in an all-out attempt to ensure that it humiliates India. In Galwan, it did what it did but it got back too. This has hit its reputation badly,” Lt Gen Kulkarni said.
