China deceives India in Ladakh; mobilises forces on mud trucks

Even though Chinese troops were running a war exercise in the Lhasa military district on their side, they were quickly diverted in heavy vehicles to the borders with India

To deceive India while mobilising its troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China rushed its forces engaged in a war game on its side in trucks used to ferry mud for an air base project not far off from the Indian region.

Due to this heavy mobilisation of troops, the Chinese were able to spring a surprise for a short while as they gained numerical strength over the Indian security forces deployed in this area.

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Sources said that even though Chinese troops were running a war exercise in the Lhasa military district on their side, they were quickly diverted in heavy vehicles to the borders with India. More trucks were called from a nearby area where an airfield is being taken over by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and mud is being supplied for its expansion, to ferry troops to the Indian border.

Around May 5-6, the Chinese troops started to march up on the LAC and into some of the Indian areas, and raised objections on the infrastructure projects going on there and staked claim over them.

Sources said that the Chinese infrastructure on the other side of the border has been present for more than two decades and the terrain also helps Chinese troops to mobilise faster. The connectivity of the Western highway and the state roads there has also helped the Chinese to deploy rapidly.

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While the Chinese had an advantage in terms of infrastructure, deployment on the Indian side was hampered due to the existing restrictions imposed in view of the coronavirus outbreak. China has rapidly deployed around 5,000 soldiers close to the LAC and at some places over Indian territory.

Despite the initial surprise the Indian forces have managed to plug in all the gaps in time and match the Chinese numbers. They are not allowing the Chinese troops to perform any manoeuvers on the Indian soil. Indian soldiers have confronted them in equal strength whenever they try to move around. India has also decided that it will not allow any external objection to hamper its ongoing infrastructure projects in the Ladakh region, which includes a road to be built up to the closest point on the Karakoram Pass.

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