India is preparing to bolster its disputed land in the Himalayas by deploying recently procured US-made weaponry along its border with China. The recent build-up in India’s northeast is focused on Tawang Plateau adjoining Bhutan and Tibet.
Now US-made Chinook choppers, ultra-light towed howitzers and rifles, indigenous supersonic cruise missiles, and a new-age surveillance system will be deployed on India’s side in areas bordering eastern Tibet.
Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Manoj Pande said that boots, artillery, armor, and air support were being combined to make the force “agile, lean, and mean so that we can employ faster.” He also added, “The Mountain Strike Corps is fully operationalized. All units including combat and combat support units are fully raised and equipped.”
The bulk of the Indian Army’s fresh troops have gone to the east, where a formation of at least 30,000 troops has been deployed over the past year. The current government has been concerned about a repeat of 1962 history and has been in an effort to keep the Indian armed forces prepared for any such event in the future.
