China recently celebrated the third anniversary of its military skirmish with India’s army in Galwan Valley. The Chinese state propaganda machinery claimed the violent clash on June 15, 2020, was intended to recruit troops into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In the weeks prior, social media accounts, suspected to be related to Chinese and Pakistani states, spread graphic images and videos to depict the Indian Army in a poor light and the PLA as a superior force. However, multiple international news sources have established with certainty that the PLA lost more than 40 of its troops in the Galwan Valley, compared to India’s loss of 20 soldiers.
The Indian Army and Air Force have an unprecedented deployment with greater combat preparedness compared to PLA, and India has increased its focus on strengthening its border infrastructure along the Chinese border over the past three years. The clash further encouraged India to enhance its connectivity in border regions and initiate infrastructure projects such as constructing roads, bridges, tunnels, and airstrips, which facilitate easy troop movement and border management. India has prioritized developing advanced surveillance systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, satellite imagery, and other modern technologies to enhance monitoring and intelligence gathering along the border, improve trade and tourism, and promote socio-economic development in border regions.
China’s propaganda is aimed at persuading people to believe that its claims on Indian territory are legal and grounded in history by using hashtags such as ‘SouthernTibet’ to refer to Arunachal Pradesh. However, China faces a severe challenge at home: the disconnect between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the PLA. President Xi Jinping has taken several measures to make the PLA loyal to the CCP, including dismissing top PLA generals, while restructuring its organizations had betrayed He emphasized on the PLA becoming a force that could ‘fight and win wars,’ indicating that the military is not competent even by the ruling elite. Nonetheless, China continues to face a desperate need to prove its potency to both domestic and international audiences.
