Restricting Indian soldiers from using firearms is a mistake, and advantageous to China. The 5 point consensus says to respect existing protocols, the same ones that Chinese soldiers used to go up to their claim lines and attack Indian soldiers with hand weapons while Indian soldiers were not allowed to use firearms.
This is why I have a problem with MEA/bureaucats having any say in how the Indian Army does its job. The Indian bureaucrats may have the best intentions, but they have never been in the field, and are a bunch of pencil-pushers. These agreements with China are tying the hands of the Indian military, to China's advantage. Meanwhile Chinese military can pick and choose which agreements it breaks and when it breaks them.
As long as the Indian government allows China to define the terms of engagement by tying the hands of the Indian military, China will retain the advantage.
If you want India to gain the advantage, let the Indian military do its job without any restrictions, and throw all existing agreements into the trash. This whole situation was created by Chinese breaking agreements, so all the rest of the agreements should also be null and void. Instead, by letting other "no-firefight" agreements with China remain, the MEA is allowing Chinese military to play Go on Indian territory. It also risks another Galwan-type incident, and is not fair to the Indian Army.
Use the full might of the Indian Armed Forces, and see how quickly the Chinese military falls back. They are good at intimidation tactics, but not so good at actual fighting. It's all psy-ops.
" has been happening from '62 itself, it is a garbage excuse.
theprint.in
