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Army warns PM: China can deploy 500,000 troops on LAC

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Shishir Gupta

Posted: May 11, 2011 at 0007 hrs IST

New Delhi China now has the capability to deploy and sustain more than half-a-million troops for over a month on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in case of a high threat scenario with India.

Combining deft defence diplomacy with India’s neighbours and major infrastructure upgradation in restive Xinjiang and Tibet, Beijing is expected to be increasingly assertive towards New Delhi and may put pressure on Arunachal Pradesh in near future.

This threat perception and assessment in the form of a presentation in South Block was given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A K Antony, National Security Adviser S S Menon, Principal Secretary T K Nair and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar by the Indian military brass last month.

While the government is tight-lipped about the presentation, the military brass told the PM that Chinese PLA has acquired the capability to deploy 34 troop divisions (one division has 23,000 troops) along the LAC in case of a high threat scenario by pulling out troops from Chengdu and Lanzhou military regions. When compared to the Indian strength of nine holding divisions along the northern borders, the PLA with a defence budget estimated at $150 billion holds overwhelming advantage.

As part of major infrastructure upgradation in Tibet and Xinjiang, China is doing the following:

Connection with all counties in Tibet with border roads completed. Road network increased from 51,000 km in 2008 to 58,000 km in 2010. Plans to increase black topped roads by another 70,000 km on the anvil.

Extension of Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Golmund to Lhasa and thereon to Shigatse (close to Sikkim). Rail connectivity is planned to link Kathmandu, Myanmar, Bhutan, Pakistan and Central Asian republics. Eleven new rail lines on the anvil in Tibet and Xinjiang for rapid deployment of PLA.

There are eight airfields in Tibet, including five operational ones; 18 air bases in Tibet and Xinjiang have the capability to put India under range of Sukhoi 27 aircraft.

The Indian security concerns get multiplied when this Chinese advantage is backed with an all-weather friend like Pakistan. Beijing is in the process of supplying four F-22 frigates along with JF-17 aircraft to Islamabad. PLA has pushed some 1,000 troops in PoK for upgradation of Karakoram Highway and to link it with sea ports of Karachi, Gwadar and Bin Qassim. This will not only give strategic depth to Pakistan but also allow PLA to control the Persian Gulf.

China’s Dong Fang Electric Supply Corporation and Pakistan Railways have also signed a feasibility study contract on a Havelian-Khunjerab Pass rail link. The military brass also gave information on Chinese inroads into Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

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Politicians will sell their mother by Dr.G.Srinivasan on 14 May 2011

This PM has sold the people of India and the next is the motherland and the last is his own mother!!!!!

china is not a military threat by Rajeesh damodaran on 12 May 2011

china will not do the same as they done on 1965.that time and today have more differences,today we are the 4 th military power in the world also carries nuclear weapons.i would like to tell that there will not be a war between countries with nuclear weapons as it can destroy everything.china can be a threat by provoking pakistan to destabilize India through terror attacks and through .

Army warning by Ron on 11 May 2011

Please take that information and throw into dustbin, that's what our leaders are doing from the past. We wake up after everything over, we never learned to prepare anything in advance. Like Chinese says, make preparations for the war when peace prevails everywhere and try to find out solutions for the peace while everyone at war.

bully neighbour by n.soundara rajan on 11 May 2011

Looks like our nation has resigned to the fate against our neighbours.While China and Pak are constantly upgrading andadding teeth to their armoury, our successive governments are still dilly dallying on the upgrading of our ageing mig fleets for many decades. On top of the joke our defence ministry had cancelled all the orders with US and USSR for the procuement of fighters to match the modern pak air force and had decided to rely on our national tech savy alone. We all know the stories and never ending delays of MBT production and Teja fighter which are still not upto the expectations of our defence forces. Looks like UPA is bent upon selling our nation to the highest bidder on a silver plate.

Army warning to PM re China by Nathan Bahirathan on 11 May 2011

India raising 2 mountin divisions is a joke. Even a layman can see the Infrastructure in Tebet is so superior that India needs at least 250,000 men trained to fight in colder and harsh climate.

Have look at the topography by Pradeep on 11 May 2011

Look at the topography of general area North and South of Mc Mahon Line. In the North is the Tibet Plateau at the height of approx 15000', and South is fast descending Arunachal Hills. Study the 1962, and Chinese can come from most unexpected lines of ingress, and are hardy and capable of living off the land. AP is so sparsely populated that even people shall pose no resistance to ingressing Chinese troops. it is a moot point. Not only we have sustained our build up based on the lessons drawn from 1962 debacle, keeping the AP as protected area, as resulted in no/ limited development in this remote area. Time that we applied ourselves on the McMahon Line

India and its Defence by Venu on 11 May 2011

While China and Pakistan are external threats, the bigger threat comes from within. This threat is from the corrupt politicians. They are weakening India by siphoning off the resources and making the country weak. Our defence forces are disciplined, good and capable. But how long can they be like this when the politicians are spoiling the same. We Indians need to stand up to the politicians and prevent them for ruining India. We need to stand by our defence forces and support them in doing their job for our good. For this we need to intensify the fight against political corruption and get back the funds stashed away in foreign banks. Spend on defence infrastructure to protect against external threats. Politicians do not understand that their well being and safety is linked to the well being of the country. If they do not understand this they must be stupid or greed must be making them blind. People must strengthen India by vanquishing corruption. TOUGH LOKPAL BILL IS THE SOLUTION

China by bipin on 11 May 2011

No doubt our PM will say "ALL IS WELL" and will go back to sleep. India should abandon its no first use nuclear policy, suspend trade with china, indians should not buy any chinese goods.

Chinese Threat by amit on 12 May 2011

Let us be more pragmatic and less negative. India has conducted nuclear explosion in 1998 and us, russia nad china were not knowing about india's preperation. India is the only country in the world which manufactured nuclear Submarine before ordinary sub and the world was not knowing. There are other success stories too.There is no reasone to underestimate india's preparedness . Yes in view of this threat India should step up its preparedness.

china by nattu on 11 May 2011

indian leaders r spineless & corrupt. when there s a problem, the so called leaders will take their bounty & run for cover. Keep patting yourself at the back & tell yourself that u r competitive with china. Our defence & military can not handle pakistan/ bangladesh, forget china.

India should respond by backofmind on 11 May 2011

Our politicians are so busy in attending courts,commissions, special courts, fast track courts, Lok adalats,and many more. They also have to worry about safeguarding what has been accumulated. Still work out a strategy to convince the voters to elect them when ever elections are due,otherwise holding on to what ever earned will be difficult. In the meanwhile they have to attend to the sport body governing board meetings.What do you suggest under such circumstances?

Gift by Satish Bhardwaj on 11 May 2011

Urgent need is to gift our leader to our old friend Chinese.

Indian Preparedness by Manoj on 11 May 2011

China has 2.4 million army and Pak has 0.5 million, hence India has to prepare to take on combined force of 3.0 million force. Since, china does not have hot border with any other country except India, it can very easly move bulk of it's army and military asset to India' s border.Hence, we need to prepare our selves to match the capabilty of china. Although today, it is very unlikely that china will go for war with India, because, it will push it's economy nack to 50years.But gradually, india with should increae it's military capability propotionate to it's economic developement. We need to balance our developement need and defence need. If we ignore our dev. need our country will become weak from within, it will be very easy for our enemy to emplode the country.

Chovanists by Mahesh on 11 May 2011

We should not allow our neighbours like China,Pak and Bangaladesh to take advantage of our interrior problems created by our ruling politicians. First of all nip these evils in the Bud itself and work to progress our Countries economy,infrastructure,military power,poverty.

GoD save INDIA from Politicians by Venkat on 11 May 2011

I guess Soon we will be loosing North-East and The head of the country (Jammu & Kashmir), either by the govt giving up or by having another scam in the name of the national security. Our country just has one big major problem and that is "Politicians, Politicians and politicians". till v have corrupt so called leaders runnin the country v can expect it to be sold in no time. Something has to be done , the threat is not china or pakistan, they are jst being what they are since long time. Its the govt which is not at all bothered abt the country or its people. We are diseased by the Dogs that are running our country into a new mess everyday. China had already started off by sending in its troops which cross the border and threaten our farmers to stop constructing anything. And the most wonderful thing is that the govt agrees to it and orders to stop that development. The Govt and the politicians are a herd of wolfs who are fighting for the carcusses of the citizens who rely on them

security threat from china by viswanath on 11 May 2011

Indian political leadership has to think seriously about the chinees build up at all strategic areas and their laison with Pak which could be a serious threat to India. We cannot rule out a possible joint attak from China and Pakistan in the event of a future war . Chinees defence prepardness is far beyond than India. I suspect chinees hands in continuous Helicoptor crashes in Arunachal Pradesh.

Army warns PM: China can deploy 500,000 troops on LAC by Major ( Retd) Virendra Sharma on 11 May 2011

Dear Editor The caption of this news item is wrong. The army would not have "Warned" the PM or the govt of the day, but informed them of the factual situation. Yes, indeed the Chinese, like Pakistan, will never let our nation remain peaceful. Because it is not in their interest to see us a developed and a strong nation-militarily and economically. We must pay much more attention not only to the infrastructures on the border, but also take prompt actions to secure our interests. We must not lose any time to reclaim POK where the Chinese are very active for last few years. On this all political parties must unite.

Leh-Manali rail line by ratan on 11 May 2011

Given the fact that China is strengthening Tibet border, India may have to eat humble pie in HP border of Tibet like in 1962. It is deplorable that Railway minister neglected such a strategic point of building leh manali rail track. China may well capture Indo-Tibet border area if timely action is not taken and HP is not included in the defence map of India. Army has given a long due wake up call. Are the politicians in Delhi listening?

China can deploy half a million troops by Gadre on 11 May 2011

If we can throw away 176,000,0000000 in 2G scam why not use it for construction and development of infrastructure. Mere sabre rattling wont help. Chinese (and Indian) armed forces think well ahead; AND ACT. We should avoid a repeat of 1962. Gadre

Common going back to slavery but rich flying off by S. Singh on 11 May 2011

When there is chaos and disorder in family (corruption, religion issues and self oriented/ personnel interest worst constitutional representatives-MPs) . what happens? Neighbours comes and KICK the back in center. This is what I see in years to come. We will go to what we were before 1947.

mainland china by shota sa nagarik on 11 May 2011

jiska koi nahin hota uska khuda hai yarron.develop infrastructure in Arunachal pradesh, not necessarily only to defend the chinese aggression but the people of Arunachal badly need of it. Even after 50 years of chinese attack on India and after 40 years after the statehood, Arunachal lack proper road connecting the district head quarters , not to tell about the villages and small towns. make plan for over all development of the state rather than planning for short term strategic requirement.

Threat by ADi on 11 May 2011

Where is the time for Indian politicians.They are busy in charting out plans to stash more money or sustaining current postions or planning out strategies to win the next elections.Rahul gandhi you are going to every nook and corner of the country to improve your AAM ADMI image think about it also sir !!. BJP sole agenda is to come abck to power .It uses various routes, Either dividing states or hinduvata. Barring Vajpayee no one bothers about the country's current position. The middle class are busy in their jobs for daily living and can not compete in the elections as they do not have the money and the labour class do not care about all this. All that matters is who are giving more money per vote. Truly the foriegn policy is in complete chaos. When obama uses india in any of his speeches every indian media highlates and the false pride bounces in every indian and the crudest joke "Super Power" raises the indian ego wings. But silently china and pakistan are tightening their screws.

striker by avtomat kalashnikov on 11 May 2011

guys its not a question of "if we can " we have to do it thats it if an intruder however powerful he may be comes forcefully inside your house will you say that i cant do anything or will you take your stock and try to drive him out of your house however weak you may be we are at a same situation with china remember India is just not about corrupt politicians and bereaucrats

China by Ram Pahune on 11 May 2011

Please go to Google Earth. Pin Pooint on the ARea Aksai Chin and then browse through the landscpa and the photographs posted there. Though initially I got overwhelmed by the Natural Beauty - I GOT A SHOCK LOOKING AT THE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND THE ROADS BEING BUILT THERE BY CHINA. I BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE ONLY FOR DEPLOYMENT OF ARMY AND TANKS IN THAT MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN Have an insight through Google Earth.

HAHAHAHA...Pigeon closes eyes, watching cat to evade danger by S SINGH on 11 May 2011

Indian politicans spends so much money on elections, comes to power...they have to first think of their personnel interest and not defending Indian territories, might be thought if they have nothing more silly to do.

Enter the Dragon: Without Plan, Men and Machine by c on 11 May 2011

Indis should establish strategic relations with all the ASEAN Neighbours with top preference with Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Philipiness, Taiwan. It is an accepted fact that China is spending bulk of its money to Defense and arming our Enenmy Pakistan. So recongnise Taiwan, start military exercises with ASEAN See who are th enemies of China play Indias game With that India first has to clean up its society mess that is it has to increase social capital of India. Remove inequality, incrase economic power of every individual and ban caste system by giving privilge to supressed people. Then fighting China will be more easy China has to be fought with Techonlogy and Increased Economic Power Of All Indians

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