A purported statement from the Indian Army about its operational preparedness to take on China in a war has created a lot of confusion after the “statement” was cancelled on Wednesday evening.
The source of the confusion was an email sent by the PRO of Udhampur (Defence) to Jammu-based reporters of all major TV channels and print media. The statement attributed to a spokesman of the Northern Command said, “The Indian Army is fully prepared and more than capable of fighting a full-fledged war even in winters in Eastern Ladakh.”
The spokesman said the Indian soldiers have experience of winter warfare and are psychologically tuned to operate at short notice.
He said, “The Indian Army has experience in Siachen where conditions are much more demanding than the frontiers with China.”
Referring to the propaganda by the China’s State media especially Global Times, that the Indian Army would not be able to withstand the harsh conditions in Ladakh heights, the Northern Command spokesman said that it can be best attributed to the “ignorance” of Chinese media.
“The Indian Army is fully prepared and more than capable of fighting a full-fledged war even in winters in Eastern Ladakh.”
After the statement became viral and was uploaded on the websites of all TV channels and publications, the PRO issued another statement, saying, “The mail in trail may please be treated as cancelled. This statement doesn’t represent the views of either Northern Command or Indian Army.”
Defence PRO (Jammu) also issued a similar statement.
Incidentally, several TV channels had ran detailed stories from forward bases about the Indian Army’s readiness to take on China.