Indian soldiers are accustomed to hardships and are psychologically stronger than the Chinese troops who come mainly from urban areas

Indian Army is ‘well-prepared’ for a long haul against Chinese troops in Ladakh region during the challenging winter times. The Tribune has reported that Indian Army after taking stock of the conditions in the Himalayan region has concluded that Indians are well-prepared.

Giving a strong reply to Chinese state-funded media, especially Global Times, for its comments that Indian soldiers won’t be able to survive in icy conditions, a spokesperson from Northern Command said, the Chinese media was ignorant of what the Indian soldiers were capable of.

“Altitudes in Ladakh range from High to Super High Altitude and there is a lot of snowfall, after the month of November up to 40 feet of snow is experienced. Coupled with this, temperature dipping down to minus 30-40 degrees is a usual phenomenon. Wind chill factor makes matters further worse for the troops. The roads also get closed due to the snow. But despite all this, the most encouraging part for India is that the Indian soldiers have a huge experience of winter warfare and are psychologically tuned to operate at short notice. While this fact is known to the world, the operational logistics capabilities are hardly known,” he said, according to the report by The Tribune.

While the whole world knows about the strong determination of the Indian soldiers, what is little known about Indian Army is the high-quality equipment that it possesses, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that logistic capability relates to mobility, habitat and billeting, quality services from health, special rations, repair and recovery, heating systems, high-quality weapons, ammunition and quality clothing. While a lot of this capacity was already available, a lot has been added since China showed signs of aggression in May.

According to the report, India has stocked special fuel and lubricants for tanks and armoured personnel carriers, ammunition of various types including small arms, missiles and tank and artillery ammunition in adequate amounts. The Army has also prepared living barracks which are comfortable and warm.

Apart from that, central heating systems, water points and tube wells have been established. The medical system has also been made ready for any eventuality, the report said.

To ease the lodging and boarding of personnel and equipment, India has commissioned a third road to Leh from Darcha after Zojila and Rohtang Passes. Completion of Atal tunnel on the Rohtang route has force multiplied the logistic capacities.

“In addition, we have a large number of air bases with the help of which we can maintain the army well. Modern snow clearing equipment has also been placed on these routes to keep them open beyond November, thus giving us more time for daily maintenance of the troops,” the spokesperson said.

As per the spokesperson, Indian soldiers are accustomed to hardships and are psychologically stronger than the Chinese troops. “China’s concept has always been to win wars without fighting; hence if they create conditions for a war, they will come across better trained, better prepared, rested and psychologically hardened Indian troops. These worries have been percolating the minds of Chinese troops and are visible in Chinese media,” the spokesperson added.

The main reason behind this according to the spokesperson is that Chinese troops are mostly from urban areas while Indian troops mainly come from rural areas.