Amid talks, Indian troops repulsed two attacks by Chinese forces in Ladakh

These incidents occurred in January and November 2022 while talks were continuing to resolve the military standoff between the two countries.

These details and mention of some covert operations by Indian Army personnel emerged after the Army Western Command and Central Command “inadvertently” announced them in citations during investiture ceremonies last week.

A video of the Western Command investiture ceremony, uploaded on YouTube, has since been taken down but that of the Central Command continues to be on YouTube.

According to the citations announced by the Western Command, Chinese troops attacked a post manned by troops of the Sikh Light Infantry on January 7, 2022.

One of the soldiers of the unit deployed there, the citation stated, displayed extreme courage and managed to repulse the attack by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, injuring four PLA soldiers and snatching away their weapons.

The citations revealed that the PLA initiated a similar action on November 27, 2022, at another post which was manned by J&K Rifles. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) successfully led his troops in repulsing this attack and was wounded in the fight.

While the first attack took place almost a year after Indian and Chinese troops disengaged from Pangong Tso in February 2021, the second clash took place two months after the two sides pulled back troops to disengage at Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in September 2022.

Two other covert operations at the LAC in eastern Ladakh were undertaken by the Army where two officers and a soldier displayed exemplary courage despite the extreme risks, difficult terrains, and weather conditions. One was in September 2022, and details of the other operation are classified.

The citations also revealed details of a cross-border operation in Sikkim where an officer of the Special Forces provided feed of Chinese military movements over five days in November 2022.

While three Army personnel involved in the skirmishes along the LAC were awarded Sena Medals (Gallantry) on January 26, 2023, the others were conferred the awards on August 15 last year. The citations, however, came into the public domain only during the investiture ceremonies.

While most military awards are announced on Republic Day and Independence Day, the investiture ceremonies take place later. These are held in the Commands, and in Rashtrapati Bhavan for higher awards.

Sources said that in view of these details getting “inadvertently” released in the public domain, the Army is now deliberating keeping details of critical operations out of citation announcements of gallantry award winners in investiture ceremonies.

While the act of gallantry will continue to be highlighted in citations, sources said that specific details of operations and the dates these were conducted may not feature in investiture ceremony announcements until the operations concerned are declassified.

At present, a detailed citation describing the act is prepared for every gallantry award winner. But a limited extract is announced while awarding the medals during the investiture ceremony for the audience. Details of covert operations are usually not announced.

Sources said that skirmishes and faceoffs occur at times at the local level along the LAC and Line of Control and are not declassified because they are resolved soon by ground commanders.

India and China pushed in nearly 50,000-60,000 troops each along the LAC within months of the start of the standoff in May 2020.

Friction points such as Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso and the Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some resolution in the last three years with the creation of buffer zones. Legacy friction points such as Depsang Plains and Demchok are yet to see any disengagement.