Galwan Clash: Turns out, nothing happened -And yet there seemed to be a lot of sound and flurry over the nothing that happened

Upala Sen, TT, 21.06.20: Addressing an all-party meet against the backdrop of the India-China face-off and killings of Indian soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, “Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured.” Nothing happened and yet 20 Indian soldiers died? Sunil Kumar, Chandan Kumar, Kundan Kumar, Aman Kumar, Jai Kishore Singh, Satnam Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurbinder Singh, Gurtej Singh, Ganesh Handsa, Kundan Kumar Ojha, Chandrakanta Pradhan, Nuduram Soren, B. Santosh Babu, K Palani, Bipul Roy, Deepak Kumar, Rajesh Orang, Ganesh Ram, Ankush. Now, the air in Ladakh is paper thin, and who knows someone might suggest that they vanished into thin air. Except that they didn’t. The recovered bodies had grievous injuries, mutilations. There were reports that the Chinese attacked them with iron rods studded with nails and rocks. And the PM himself said, “Twenty of our jawans were killed but not before they taught a lesson to those who had dared to raise an eye towards Bharat Mata.” But a lesson taught for what, if what happened was nothing?

Line of actual control

A day later, the PIB issued a statement clarifying that the “Prime Minister’s observations that there was no Chinese presence on our side of the LAC pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces.” But “nothing happened” seems to be the line of actual control peddled by the Chinese as well. Ten Indian soldiers were held captive by the Chinese and released three days later. But according to China, nothing happened. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “As far as I know China hasn’t seized any Indian personnel.” A news producer from CGTN (China Ghobal Television Network) tweeted: “No outsider was inside #Indian territory in #Ladakh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi… The statement illustrates that the incidents were happened in Chinese territory (sic).” The Chinese President Xi Jingping’s birthday came and went, but no greetings were conveyed from the Indian side. Nothing happened. In Asansol, BJP workers registered their protest by burning effigies of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. What goes of Xi? Nothing.

Good fences make good neighbours

Nothing happened. And yet there seemed to be a lot of sound and flurry over the nothing that happened. The US has called China a “rogue actor” since. Moscow has assured India of support. Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria has visited Ladakh more than once to review preparations of the IAF and assured the nation that India’s armed forces are determined to deliver. Ado over nothing! In the meantime, India is reverberating with calls to boycott Chinese products. According to China’s Global Times, by the end of 2019, “roughly 1,000 Chinese firms invested in India or opened facilities in the country, involving investment of over $8 billion”. The buzz is that what nothing couldn’t do, this might have done --- made China uneasy. That would be something.