The circumstances of the death of 20 soldiers in clashes with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley have increased chances of an escalation into a military conflict on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since adherence to old protocols and SOPs will now be very hard to enforce. “If de-escalation does not take place fast, the chances of more such clashes taking place will increase. When you have troops eyeball-to-eyeball, there is a lot of tension, anger, and any small incident can flare up,” former Army Chief General VP Malik told The Indian Express.
Even as Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria on Saturday said the IAF is “well prepared and suitably deployed” to deal with any eventuality arising out of the Galwan standoff, analysts told The Sunday Express that although IAF enjoys a geographical advantage over air power, any decision on its use will have to be taken after careful consideration by the government.Read More…
