No chest-thumping. None of those usual markers of joy that accompany martial anniversaries, nor even solemnity dressed up in ostentatious ways. That’s not a very big surprise. This is, after all, a date that marks a year of the violent face-off between the Indian Army and the PLA in Galwan Valley. The conflict had left 20 Indian soldiers, including their commanding officer Colonel Santosh Babu, dead. Not a happy memory. And not one that can be milked like the Pulwama tragedy either. So the Narendra Modi government will busy itself with managing the second wave of Covid; there are no plans to commemorate the bloody battle at the higher levels. The Bihar Regiment, to which most of the soldiers belonged, is likely to mark the day with a sedate memoriam service. Do not expect any display of muscular nationalism that’s generally associated with themes revolving around Pakistan, Kashmir or Pakistan-sponsored terrorism—the kind that marks the anniversary of the 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), or to a lesser extent, the 2019 Balakot air...
Asymmetry Of Threat Management
As China is not part of public imagination the way Pakistan is, BJP has less to worry about relations with the more powerful adversary
Last Stand
Twenty Indian soldiers, including their commanding officer, were killed in Galwan
Photograph by PTI
Twenty Indian soldiers, including their commanding officer, were killed in Galwan
Photograph by PTI
