Sikkim stand-off no match to ’67

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 27

Even as India and China continue in an eye-ball to eye-ball confrontation in Sikkim, the present day face-off is no match to the armed skirmish between the two countries 50 years ago in the same area.

The present day stand-off is at Doka La, some 40 kms’ aerial distance from Nathu La. The Doka La on its eastern flank opens up into the Chumbi valley under Chinese control. The Chinese are building a road to the spot. New Delhi fears the route, in case of a conflict, could be used to cut off the Siliguri Corridor, a narrow strip of land also called the eastern chicken’s neck, which has several vital installations around it and connects mainland India with the states of the North-East.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Today, China said it has blocked the entry of Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet from the Nathu La, alleging that Indian troops have crossed the Sikkim border into Chinese territory and demanding their withdrawal. China said diplomatic protests have been lodged in New Delhi and Beijing. The Indian Army declined to comment.

In September 1967, China had fired at Indian posts close to Nathu La and the Army retaliated with full force before a ceasefire was called. Five years after the war, China got “a reply” in Nathu La, indicating that the “ghosts of 1962” had been purged.

A book ‘History of the Conflict with China. 1962’, produced by the History Division of MoD, and released for restricted circulation in March 1993, narrates the 1967 incident vividly. The book reads: “The Chinese troops suddenly opened machine gun fire on September 11, 1967, inflicting heavy casualties. The GOC 17 Div — the redoubtable Maj Gen Sagat Singh — blasted the Chinese positions with 5.5 medium guns. The Chinese agreed to a ceasefire on September 16. They had lost 400 men killed or wounded as compared to Indian loss of 65 killed and 145 wounded.”

Sagat Singh later promoted as Lieut General and went on to command the 4 Corps during the 1971 war with Pakistan. He died in 2001.