India-China tension: Hiding the truth from the public?

The removal from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) website of a document which contradicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement of June 19, that “no one had intruded” into Indian territory or taken Indian posts along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, shows the lengths that the government is willing to go to hide its mistakes. The facts laid out in the MoD document contrast sharply with the ‘all is well’ picture that the Prime Minister sought to paint in the immediate aftermath of the face-off at Galwan Valley.

Chinese aggression had been increasing along the LAC and more particularly in Galwan Valley since May 5, the MoD document said, drawing attention to “Chinese transgression” that occurred in the areas of Kugrang Nala, Gogra and the north bank of Pangong Tso on May 17-20. Both the document’s contents and the manner in which it was removed from the MoD website raise troubling questions.

Clearly, Modi’s assertion of June 19 that no intrusion had taken place into the Indian side did not reflect the ground situation. On what basis then did the Prime Minister make the claim he did? Dissembling to the public on any issue is untenable; that this happened on a matter related to national security makes it all the more unacceptable, disquieting and dangerous.

The MoD’s removal of the document is the latest in a series of steps that the Modi government has taken to cover-up the blunders it has made with regard to defending Indian territory vis-à-vis China. Not only did the security establishment fail to respond swiftly to the Chinese build-up and subsequent intrusions but also, the military top brass brazenly denied Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh.

This refusal to admit to mistakes continued even after the June 15 face-off, manifesting in the Prime Minister using an all-party meeting to make a claim that was designed to impress the whole nation. The removal of the document from the MoD website shows that disingenuousness and reluctance to accept mistakes continues to define the government’s approach to the situation along the LAC.

The repeated attempt at covering up decision-making blunders will undermine India’s capacity to defend its territory. Strategies that are built on self-deception fail. It is time that the Modi government woke up to this truth, indulged in some introspection, fixed accountability for decisions, and engaged in course correction. A strategy that is preoccupied with covering up, deflecting blame and managing the domestic headlines will only weaken India’s position, whether at the negotiating table or on the ground along the LAC.