Defence
After Training Soldiers In Krav Maga Unarmed Combat, Security Forces Focus On Learning Mandarin Amidst Border Standoff With China
Indian and Chinese soldiers at a border crossing. (Diptendu Dutta/GettyImage)
Security Forces deployed along the border with China at Line of Actual Control (LAC) are now learning Mandarin to better interact, understand and handle any faceoff like situation with Chinese soldiers.
This comes amid the three-year-long standoff of the Indian Army with the Chinese People's liberation Army (PLA), following the deadly clashes at Galwan.
According to reports, the Indian Army has doubled the number of courses that are running for the soldiers to gain proficiency in mandarin language.
Notably, Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in China.
The Mandarin-speaking courses at the Army Education Corps Training College and Centre in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, have been doubled from the earlier two to four. Each batch has 40 students, including 10 officers and 30 junior commissioned officers (JCO) and other ranks.
These officers and soldiers following the completion of training gets a Master of Arts (MA) degree.
The institute also runs a six-month course for JCO and other ranks, with another two-month refresher course for those who have already undergone this language course earlier.
This comes after personnel's from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has started to undergo training in Israeli Krav Maga fighting style, making them proficient in unarmed combat.
About 50 ITBP personnel have already undergone training at ITBP's Panchkula training academy. These 50 ITBP personnel will then train other ITBP soldiers in unarmed combat.
This will allow the ITBP personnel to better handle situations like the primitive combat seen at Pangong Tso and Galwan in May and June 2020, and Yangtse in December 2022.
This has become necessary since frequent skirmishes have become common between the Indian Army, ITBP soldiers, and Chinese PLA troops due to the recent aggressive patrolling by the PLA along the LAC.
Earlier, the faceoff between Indian and Chinese troops was limited to waving flags, laying claim on the territory and going back.
However, after the ongoing border standoff at LAC, and the brutal clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020, the Chinese soldiers have become more aggressive.
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