The Indian Army revealed details about previously unreported clashes with Chinese forces along their long and disputed border during separate awards ceremonies held over the weekend.
Among those recognized was an officer who New Delhi said helped drive back dozens of People’s Liberation Army troops some 14 months ago, part of a series of incidents that were separate from the deadly clashes of June 2020, when soldiers from both sides died in a gruesome skirmish at a frigid hotspot in the Himalayas.
The recounted events on January 13, India’s army day, shed more light on the continuing tensions between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants, whose stated shared aim is to reduce their respective mobilizations along the 2,100-mile Line of Actual Control.
As military-to-military talks continue, both countries appear to be preparing for a period of heightened readiness by establishing permanent infrastructure to move or station troops in their mountains border.
In one ceremony on Saturday at the Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi, the Indian Army’s Western Command issued medals for bravery shown during clashes in January and November 2022.
On January 7 that year, at an LAC outpost code-named Shankar Tekri, Raman Singh, a non-commissioned officer in a Sikh Light Infantry battalion, repelled a PLA incursion across the border and wounded four Chinese soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, according to a citation read at the ceremony.
Raman Singh was awarded for gallantry while being given the service’s Sena Medal, “for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the army.”
Another significant and as yet unreported melee occurred later on November 27, when around 50 Chinese troops allegedly stormed a high-altitude post called Atari. Baldev Singh, a junior commissioned officer with the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles infantry regiment, led a countercharge that resulted in him wounding over a dozen Chinese soldiers, his citation read.
“It came into notice that 40-50 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army were trying to cross the Line of Actual Control, Naib Subedar Baldev Singh, without caring about his own personal safety, led the attack against the Chinese army soldiers,” an army spokesperson said.
“And despite being injured, he succeeded in inuring 10-15 PLA soldiers singlehandedly, thus foiling the plan of the enemy to capture the post and protecting the territorial integrity of the nation,” according to the commendation.
Western Command, Indian Army
Honored at the same event was Lt. Col. Pushmeet Singh, a commanding officer in the same regiment, whose patrols along the LAC were credited with averting a Chinese military infiltration at the border. Pushmeet Singh spent two days negotiating a successful standdown with the local Chinese commander, according to the citation at his medal ceremony.
Elsewhere in northern India, in Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Indian Army’s Central Command awarded Maj. Nitish Tyagi of the 12 Para special operations unit for enduring 120 hours in adverse weather conditions and at extremely high altitudes while surveilling enemy activities.
The PLA was not named in his commendation, but the foe was indirectly identified by his mission location in the challenging terrains of India’s northeastern state of Sikkim, which borders the Tibet region in southwestern China.
A video of the gallantry awards was initially released on YouTube but was later removed by the Western Command’s official account without explanation.
The Times of India newspaper said the Indian Army headquarters in New Delhi intervened after the new disclosures caused a stir on social media websites.
The Indian and Chinese defense ministries did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.
Western Command/X
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