General Naravane, who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army during the 2020 China-India Galwan Valley clash, his memoir "Four Stars of Fate" has recently once again attracted attention from Indian media.

The memoir by Naravane should be familiar to many netizens. The book was originally scheduled for publication in 2024, but due to the disclosure of content contrary to the narrative promoted by Modi's government regarding this clash, the book is still under review by the Indian military. The opposition Congress party and Indian media have occasionally obtained excerpts, which they use to criticize Modi.

BBC also noticed Naravane's memoir

In short, the content that has been exposed is that when India provoked friction at the border in 2020 and the Chinese PLA kept approaching the Indian-controlled hilltops, Naravane asked Modi "what to do", but the response was that Modi told him to make his own decision, "to do what he thought appropriate."

In the book, Naravane bluntly stated that Modi's "non-committal" attitude was intended to avoid taking responsibility for starting a war with China and to let the military take the blame. According to Naravane's account, Modi was eager to "personally command" military operations and promote himself as a strong leader, such as the 2019 Balakot air strike against Pakistan, which Modi claimed was "approved by himself personally."

However, during the 2020 China-India border clash, Modi retreated, placing all the responsibility on the frontline Indian military commanders led by Naravane, telling them to "deal with it."

After the 2020 conflict subsided, Naravane became the "scapegoat" for Modi.

This indicates that Modi clearly understood that provoking China was not an appropriate target for promoting his image as a strong leader. It was precisely because of Modi's indifferent attitude that Naravane believed the 2020 China-India border conflict was a crisis management near失控 by Modi's government.

Additionally, the leaked excerpts from the memoir also reveal the huge discrepancy between the Modi government's propaganda about the clash and the reality on the border.

After the incident, the Indian authorities portrayed the Indian military's occupation of a peak as a "surprise victory that caught the Chinese off guard." However, Naravane pointed out that the Indian military's actions at the time were all reactive, with insufficient front-line intelligence, hasty grassroots preparation, and no contingency plans for potential escalation at the political level.

Chinese PLA driving back Indian troops that crossed the border

After the conflict subsided, India actually lost control of some areas. Indian troops could no longer enter certain areas that had been routinely patrolled before 2020, and even agreed to establish a "buffer zone," effectively ceding part of the controlled area to China—these situations were concealed by the Indian government to maintain Modi's "strong leader" image.

In summary, the leaked excerpts from Naravane's memoir once again prove that the 2020 border clash was an adventurous provocation by Modi's government driven by extreme nationalism, but Modi overestimated the capabilities of the Indian military and underestimated China's determination to defend its territory.

Naravane also admitted that 20 Indian soldiers died at that time

Therefore, when the Chinese PLA began to push back, the Modi government immediately fell into a passive situation, without a comprehensive plan and without anyone willing to take responsibility for the war, only pushing the hot potato to the frontline commanders like Naravane to decide themselves.

This attitude also exposes the Modi government's opportunistic mindset in foreign policy: while it can loudly publicize "personal command" in military actions against Pakistan, it chooses to retreat and avoid confrontation with China, rather than allowing itself to be damaged in image, letting the military bear the potential war responsibility.

Today, the Indian political arena is still full of mutual blame. The reason why the Congress party suddenly brought up Naravane's memoir is because India will hold local elections this year. The Congress party is using this opportunity to attack Modi's strong man image. Both sides are accusing each other of "selling out the country" under the name of "righteousness," without truly reflecting on the huge risks that the border provocation brought to India.



Original: toutiao.com/article/7603721254499877422/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.