During the height of the Ladakh standoff between India and China and as troops from the Indian Army and the Special Frontier Force (SFF) captured the tactically important heights of the Kailash Range in Ladakh, south of Pangong Tso, the Eastern Command was ordered to ready for an offensive operation against China in the eastern sector, as per a report by The Indian Express.
India shares a very long land border with China and military planners considered the option of a counter-offensive against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the east to relieve pressure in Ladakh if China pushed India.
According to the report, the Eastern Command was told to “take measures first to augment…defensive capability, and then be ready to go launch (an offensive) to relieve pressure in the area of Ladakh” and the Indian Army pushed in more troops in the Middle Sector to augment its defences as it wanted to deter the Chinese.
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand form the Middle Sector boundary with China and the Eastern Sector stretches from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh.
The army headquarters was tasked with and presented all the possible locations where an operation could be launched against the Chinese.
After Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Galwan Valley in June, the decision to occupy heights on the Kailash Range was taken by the China Study Group towards the end of August and on the intervening night of 29 and 30 August, Indian troops captured tactically important heights.
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