Why Mountain Strike Corps

Why Mountain Strike Corps

   

    The situation has escalated overtime across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with Chinese repeatedly entering Indian Territory the tensions are high, and the hostile environments have hampered any measures Indian forces have taken overtime. LAC scales along one of the most hostile environments and is rigged with glaciers, rivers and mountains. These have served as natural barriers against any threat posed by China. The mountains at several places scale down to form valleys and at places can be scaled and an attack can be mounted. Even though the countries have held diplomatic meetings to solve the border issues, not much headway has been made. Both the countries have refused to recognize the McMahon line, which had substantially answered the disputed Arunachal border issues.

         Ranging from Kashmir's Aksai chin to the Eastern Arunachal, India shares a border which has been disputed for a long time. Claims of China over these areas led to the 1962 war, China not only fought for Aksai Chin but also waged war to claim its control over Arunachal Pradesh. After the war China controlled most of the Aksai Chin area and also claimed borders along Arunachal. Arguing over the agreements made when drawing the LAC, China waged another war but was repelled by the army.

         Arunachal attained its statehood in 1987, China repeatedly pressurized the Indian government to revert its decision failing which China warned of staging a war and annexing the disputed areas. Even though the situation slipped out of hands, it was controlled with the interference of various superpowers. To check the aggression of Chinese forces, Indian government setup the ITBP under the Home ministry which was responsible for controlling the borders along the LAC.

      ITBP has a tremendous track record and at several times has repelled any move by the Chinese. But in the recent times, Chinese have increased their presence and forces along the border. With increased Chinese presence and aggression, ITBP alone can’t handle the border situation, therefore it is crucial the government sets up another regiment that can act as an force multiplier thus checking the Chinese. A regiment raised among the existing regiments would not answer to this threat, rather the government has to raise a specialized regiment which can effectively handle the Chinese in these hostile environments.

       A specialized regiment with modern weaponry is the answer for this situation. This regiment would be specially trained for countering the aggressive moves by the Chinese. This regiment would be equipped to fight the Chinese in a hostile environment without much hindrance.

Why does India need an exclusive force to handle the Chinese?

      Chinese have bettered their conditions across the border over the years, the Chinese now enjoy one of the best infrastructural facilities and clubbed with the modern facilities at their disposal the Chinese reaction time will be extremely minimal. Hence it is crucial the government not only develops the infrastructure along the border but also sets up a corps that can retaliate within a moment’s notice.

        The government is now setting up Mountain Strike corps, which will have its headquarters at Panagarh in West Bengal, the corps will have a sanctioned strength of around 90000 soldiers. Panagarh and Pathankot under the Eastern command will host the new regiments. This regiment clubbed with the ITBP and the high altitude mountains which serve as a natural barrier, promise to keep the Chinese aggression along the LAC under control. 

Editor Karthik Kakoor