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OpINION FEBRUARY 25, 2022 | The Indian Eye 12

tages for any possible pre-emptive focused on acclimatizing to high-al-
military action. titude conditions, without condition-
The Chinese PLA perceived ing their training with the intention
that they had to respond to the In- of performing combat readiness in
dian winter storage preparations, those areas.
which they thought to be “high-pro-
file” and could considerably improve therefore, the airborne exercis-
the Indian troops’ ability to sustain
in the harsh climate compared to the es and improved winter storage
year 2020. by the Indian army is taken with
In particular, India’s airborne
insertion exercises conducted in No- a more cautious attitude, while
vember 2021 at the Eastern Ladakh the Pla had been ramping up
was seen as a provocation because
it drew deployments from different physical infrastructure before
regions of India, and also, they were the onset of winter. the chi-
conducted just before the arrival of
winter. In the Chinese perspective, nese Pla believe that they have
the exercise showed India’s “per- an advantage in logistics and
sistence to extend confrontation”,
and “unwillingness to retreat”. How- transportation compared to
ever, while undertaking deterrence their Indian counterparts. as a
measures, the Chinese make a dis-
tinction regarding the motivation Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China exchanged greetings and sweets result, they argue that the Indi-
behind the Indian actions, arguing along the LAC at Demchok on New Year’s Day (ANI Photo) an preparations are ineffective,
that it has to do with Indian efforts
to convey to its domestic audience while the deterrence signaling
about its commitment to sovereignty in contrast acknowledges that
issues (thus rhetorical) than actual
security threats emanating from the the Indian troops in their per-
Chinese side. ception are better prepared
While India had stocked its win-
ter planning supplies in an effort than last year.
to be better prepared, China’s var-
ied winter planning logistics show Overall, the purpose of the de-
a broader strategy to gain mastery terrence signaling in the Chinese
over high-altitude conditions and in- view, is to highlight that their re-
crease combat preparedness against source mobilization capability ex-
India. The expansion of physical in- ceeds that of India, leading it to
frastructure that can extend its air maintain advantage at the India–
defense and offensive air strike ca- China border. Similarly, the PLA’s
pability shows increasing willingness exercises and the deterrence signal-
to confront the Indian offensive ca- ing are catered towards magnifying
pability across the border. the loopholes in India’s logistics and
Though much of it reflects the transportation capabilities at the
PLA’s general approach to stocking border areas. As of now, the PLA’s
and improving its logistics for troops The Chinese PLA handed over the young boy from strategy is to exploit the gaps in In-
at high-altitude areas, such as North Arunachal Pradesh Miram Taron to the Indian Army at Wacha Damai. The boy had crossed dia’s offensive capability at the bor-
Xinjiang area, the media attention over the border by mistake (ANI Photo) der and strengthen its logistics and
to the Indian side reflects to some military infrastructure.
extent China’s apprehensions about
the Indian border in addition to us- conditions and rather expend their plateau conditions. Dr. M.S. Prathibha is Associate Fellow
ing it for deterrence signaling. energies on dominating the areas to At the Indian border, the win- at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for
At least, the PLA had assessed defend the border against any poten- ter upgrade and the consequent sig- Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA),
that the existing logistics were in- tial aggression. naling points to the PLA’s strategy New Delhi
sufficient to cater to stocking of Therefore, troops merely ac- on logistics preparation as a way to
supplies, mostly learning from their climatizing to high-altitude condi- maintain advantage and reduce any Views expressed are of the author and
2020 winter stationing that inade- tions is insufficient, and the PLA insufficiencies that could affect its do not necessarily reflect the views of
quate winter logistics would hamper augmenting winter logistics is a step combat readiness. By stressing that the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
the troops to perform their regular towards improved training and pa- logistics is the best way to overcome Government of India.
activities and would deplete the mo- trolling at high-altitude areas, in- the winter maladies, the PLA is at-
rale of the border defense troops. cluding observing the movements of tempting to draw distinction between This is the abridged version of the
Inadequate winter logistics can the adversary. its preparations and India’s. As a
lead troops to focus more on sur- Hence, the PLA’s focus has shift- result, the PLA is making its troops article which appeared first in the
viving the harsh climate rather than ed towards training its border troops spend much longer time at high-al- Comment section of the website (www.
defending the border. Similarly, the in high-altitude regions and station titude camps now with improved idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
PLA wants to reduce the troops’ them at high posts, with an emphasis logistics, which they used to avoid for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
focus on surviving the high-altitude on getting the troops integrated to earlier. The troops previously only Delhi on February 14, 2022

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