General MM Naravane, the former chief of the Indian Army said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave him and the force a free hand to act following a tense situation that arose between India and China after the PLA moved tanks and troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
“Jo ucchit samjho woh karo” (Do whatever you deem appropriate), the former army chief said Rajnath told him on the night of August 31, 2020, following a tense situation arising out of Chinese PLA moving ammunition into the Indian territory, PTI reported.
Naravane revisited the conversation in his memoir ‘Four Stars of Destiny’. He also wrote about a flurry of phone calls between the defence minister, external affairs minister, the national security advisor and the chief of defence staff that night.
“I conveyed the criticality of the situation to the RM (Raksha Mantri), who said he would get back to me, which he did, by about 2230 hours,” Naravane wrote recounting his thoughts that night after the call with Singh.
“He said that he had spoken to the PM and that it was purely a military decision. ‘Jo ucchit samjho woh karo’ (Do whatever you deem is appropriate). I had been handed a hot potato. With this carte blanche, the onus was now totally on me. I took a deep breath and sat silently for a few minutes. All was quiet save for the ticking of the wall clock,” the former Army chief added.
The officer further added that the country at the time was in bad shape as it was reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic, which made him worry about the steady supply of spares in case of a long drawn-out action.
“Who were our supporters in the global arena, and what about the collusive threat from China and Pakistan? A hundred different thoughts flashed through my mind,” he wrote.
“This was no war game being played in a sand model room of the Army War College, but a life and death situation,” Naravane says after a few moments of quiet reflection, he called up Northern Army Commander Lt Gen YK Joshi.
About the pushback from China, Naravane said that their light tanks would have been no match for our medium tanks. It was a game of bluff and the PLA blinked first.
Naravane writes the PLA moved troops from Moldo to the area of Chuti Changla towards the South Bank of the Pangong Tso on the intervening night of August 29-30. they moved forward some troops in the area of the Kailash Range, he says.
He also affirmed that the Indian Army was in a strong position both on the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso as well as the Kailash Range.
Naravane says the daylight hours of August 31 saw a lot of movement on the PLA side, even as the Army consolidated its position. Towards the afternoon, movement of PLA armour was also observed in the area of their garrison at Moldo. Seeing this, our tanks at Tara Base were also ordered to move up to Rechin La, he says.
(With PTI inputs)
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