Shipki La, Himachal Pradesh
Col Satish Singh Lalotra
“A vision without strategy remains an illusion”… Lee Bolman
The date of 15th June 2020 has been branded in the collective psyche of Indians as a day when chickens came home to roost for a country long known to be the champions of the down trodden and marginalized of the world. The Galwan valley clash between the PLA and the Indian army has cast the world attention once again on the two behemoths of Asia trying to muscle out each other from their areas of influence . Though a very unfortunate incident ,it has done a yeoman’s job in binding together the disparate thinking process of Indian intelligentsia ,security establishment, the political class and to top it all the common Indian who has spared time from his mundane existence to crystal gaze into his future existence marred by an event which he didn’t reckon earlier. Though Galwan clash has been a byproduct of years of Indian Pusillanimity in standing up to its northern neighbour, but nonetheless it was a flash in the pan in so far as individual/collective bravery of troops in contact with enemy on that fateful day was concerned.
Lot of mulling over, meetings, conferences of India’s top security think tanks have been doing the rounds since that day to come to terms with the upheaval that it has caused in general. Almost every Indian is now well aware in the country of the genesis of the problem courtesy the media blitzkrieg in its wake. But what not everybody is aware in the country is that many more such Galwans are waiting to happen or rather spring up, if India does not learn its lessons etched in blood by its army to redeem its honour and prestige. One such potential danger of Galwan type incident is waiting to happen in Himachal pradesh’s Shipki La area of Kinnaur district. Before I discuss the Shipki La problem per se, a look/see about the entire LAC lay out starting from Ladakh in J&K to Diphu pass in Arunachal Pradesh is a must. The entire LAC spanning the boundary between India and China is approximately 3548 kms, with the line traversing union territory of Ladakh, and 4 Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. On the Chinese side this line traverses the TAR/Tibetan autonomous region .In that sense the LAC together with the disputed border in the east (Mac Mohan line) for India and a small undisputed section in between forms the effective border between the two Asian giants. In case of Ladakh in the western sector of LAC , the actual length spans approximately 1597 kms . As for the middle sector ,in Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh the LAC runs for 605 kms . Out of this total length, Himachal Pradesh shares about 220 kms of border with China. A further subdivision of this LAC in Himachal Pradesh shows that 140 kms is bordering District Kinnaur with approximately 80 kms in Lahul and Spiti . In Sikkim the LAC runs for about 220 kms and the rest 1126 kms with Arunachal Pradesh of the eastern sector .
Coming to the topic of the article as such, i.e Shipki La a waiting Galwan to erupt . Readers will be well aware that Shipki La is a border mountain pass in district Kinnaur of Himachal Pradesh connecting with China and comes under the ambit of the central sector as mentioned above. It sprang into international prominence when in September 1956 the Chinese intransigence was noticed by way of their incursion near Hupsang khad south of the internationally recognized Indo-China border at Shpiki La as agreed upon in note iv of the 1954 Sino-Indian agreement. Accordingly a note verbale was issued to the Chinese charge d’affairs in India . A second intrusion was effected by the PLA after few days which could have snowballed into a bloody skirmish but for better sense on the part of Indian officer in charge of the patrolling party. Since then Shipki La has been of and on in news but with a note of low key. But since the Galwan clash in eastern Ladakh ,a heightened sense of vigil has been underway all along the LAC . Concerns over the vulnerability of porous borders in Himachal Pradesh have been voiced by experts time and again . But the often receipt of interception of Chinese satellite phone conversations near Shipki La pass as also the frequent Chinese helicopter sorties near Sumdoh and Kaurik have been a cause of worry in the Indian security establishment . The Chinese PLA continues to look for new fronts to sustain and deepen the tensions along the LAC with India ,and for that the bordering Kinnaur and Lahul spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh are the new hot spots to foment trouble and keep our security forces guessing .
It will be well understood that the ITBP/Indo Tibetan border police is manning the Indo-Tibet border in this area with about 5 ITBP Battalions and 20 ITBP posts all strung along the 220 kms of LAC with active support of the Indian army. What makes the Himachal border more vulnerable as compared to others has its genesis in our lackadaisical attitude and procrastination towards border area development of this state despite passage of so much of time since independence. It will be a shocker to most of Indians that Kinnaur district sharing the longest LAC in the state has only one single road connecting it to the outside world i.e the NH-22or the Hindustan- Tibet road which was built by the British Governor General Lord Dalhousie in 1850 . This was built as part of the ‘Great Game ‘ which was in its full swing between the UK and Czarist Russia for the control and expansion of their imperial aspirations. The secondary aim of this road being to have land connectivity to Yarkand/Tibet as part of expansionist British economic policy prevalent at that time. Ever since then there has been no alternate road/route from Delhi /Shimla to Kinnaur except a little bit of road improvement or widening on the same stretch by the BRO/Border roads organization.
A much more sinister and all enveloping problem unfolding in the border district of Kinnaur is the fast desertification of its border villages by all the able bodied youth for cities/metros in search for a better life. This tide of exodus if not stemmed in time will have dangerous portends for both the security, safety and economic wellbeing for our country. But one can’t lay the entire blame on these youth of border villages for deserting their homeland. This act of desertification is a direct accusing finger pointing towards our misplaced priorities of national importance . Way back in 1993 the GOI had started the BADP/Border area development programme to stem this tide by improving the infrastructure ,habitat and surroundings etc but to no avail. To lead a honourable life people require employment .Where was the allocation of money for industrial back up for the same in BADP ? None . It is only in times like the present when India and China are locked in a deadly embrace that we recognize the importance of border people who at times act as a second line of defence . Border area people may also act as a proverbial fifth columnists against an external attack as was seen in the shape of Maqbool Sherwani ,a Kashmiri border youth who delayed the Pakhtoon tribesmen from Pakistan and rebel forces in Baramulla in Oct 1947. The gradual exodus of these youth from Kinnaur district despite its thriving apple industry is a matter of concern for the GOI and Himachal government as well. The 2011 census showed a negative decadal growth rate of population i.e -5.1 over 2001 census. The NH-22 connecting Kinnaur with rest of India is not in good condition, the link roads are in a pathetic state and remain cutoff for days together during inclement weather and not restored for a long time. Historically the middle/central sector of LAC bordering Uttrakhand/Himachal Pradesh has remained peaceful owing to the towering Himalayan watershed that defines the border. Occupying territory across the high border ridge line would leave defenders cutoff by the snow. In such a topography the road connectivity assumes gigantic proportions for sustaining the troops as also their switching from lateral axis. Having served in Roopa valley /Kinnaur district way back in 1996 with Est 22/SFF I was wonder struck the way NH-22 /Hindustan Tibet road the only life line to this remote corner of India used to groan under tremendous pressure of traffic of tourists, army vehicles and apple laden trucks etc heading south to Shimla /Delhi for their onward journey. Nothing seems to have changed in terms of road connectivity in this area since 1850s . Even so, with tensions at an all time high with our northern neighbour the performance of BRO(Border roads organization) needs to be ramped up. The government has proposed to construct 64 strategic roads with a total length of 3508 kms and 103 bridges in areas falling in Indo-China, Indo -Pakistan and Indo-Myanmar region with a total plan outlay of over Rs 31000 crores. This is one such area which needs urgent attention from the Mandarins of power sitting at Delhi.
In addition to the above, the communication links are poor and they are snapped any time putting the entire population to stress. Imagine out of 17 radio stations of AIR/All India radio in Himachal Pradesh, district Kinnaur has got only one at Kalpa /Rekong peo operating on 103.7 MHz and at a distance of more than 150 kms from the border. This being a relay station, hence Kalpa AIR station leaves much to be desired for meeting the aspirations of locals, forcing them to switch to Chinese broadcast across. All these activities come under the BADP, and their importance is felt during times of crisis as was experienced recently. The above examples point towards lot of similarities between situations preceding to Galwan incident in eastern Ladakh and that obtaining in Shipki La as of now. Some of them like desertification of border villages, lack of road connectivity, poor radio communication, absence of health facilities etc should jolt our Government from its stupor to sit up and take notice to prevent a Galwan on Shipki La.
The Himmat Singh Ji report of 1951 also known as the North and north eastern border defence committee presided by the then minister of state of defence Maj Gen Himmatsinghji and consisting of reps from ministry of home, defence, external affairs and the IB had given some very relevant and sterling recommendations to improve the administration, defence, communications etc of the frontier areas. These are relevant even today after a passage of more than 71 years and need to be dusted and dried from the yellowing files kept in the MOD /Ministry of defence and put into action once again. As an example to sustain the above ,the border villages of Sumdoh, Nangia, Pooh, Tashigang Shalkar and Dubling located within a radius of 10 kms of the border near Shipki La have seen a massive desertification with only small children ,women and old people inhabiting these settlements. Though all is quiet is on the Shipki La front as of now, but the repeated sightings of Chinese military helicopters with an increased frequency across Sumdoh and Kaurik ring ominous bells for our security establishment. With increase in PLA at Tunzuk and Shipki La the main center for annual border trade which connects Kinnaur with TAR/Tibetan autonomous region has left the border people a worried lot. The knee jerk reactions all over the security establishment of India in the aftermath of Galwan imbroglio including the police force in Himachal Pradesh is a case in point. As per the latest inputs available the DGP of Himachal Sanjay Kundu has formulated a 12 high point strategy focusing on better training and equipment for the ITBP and the state intelligence personnel in local languages .
He further postulated that the main focus for his strategy will be training the locals in guerrilla warfare to hold the ground and aid the forces in case of Chinese invasion. This is highly recognizable with the similar plans drawn up, and implemented in Kashmir with the formation of VDCs/Village defence committees since 1995 to stem the tide of militancy . But then where are the able bodied people left now in these areas? In a bid to give a further push to his strategy he deputed 5 IPS officers all commandants of different police battalions to camp in these border villages and gather information . All these point towards a loose and disparate attempt to cobble together some sort of resistance if and when balloon goes up. It again points towards India’s lack of a cohesive strategy to take on the PLA. In fact the paucity of reserves and lack of battle front synergy in the form of unity of command in this area can result in incursions of PLA . As brought out earlier the local population in border areas is a sterling factor which has to be cultivated to no end , in addition to improving the basic infrastructure so that they remain loyal to their home land . The British though not sons of the soil ,had long back realized the importance of the frontier areas of India and the urgent need to protect and develop it despite a natural barrier like Himalayas safeguarding the subcontinent from its northern neighbours and hence had put all their might in improving the rail road network during the hey days of “Great Game”. The staying power of locals of border area in their own habitat coupled with improving their living standards as brought earlier is the ultimate mantra since it results in strategic area denial ,which is the need of the hour to prevent a repeat of Galwan in Shipki La.
(The writer is a retd army officer.)
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