PLA TROOPS ARE AN ANXIOUS GROUP, RECALL INDIAN OFFICERS

‘PLA relies on fear to extract performance, which does not work in a place like Nathu La in Sikkim.

They are extremely low paid. My counterpart once told me that he gets one third of what I get,’ said a retired Indian Army colonel, who was posted in Leh until recently.

Psychological profiling of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers done by Indian Army officers—both officially and informally—paints a sad picture of China’s Army. These Indian Army officers were or are posted at India’s eastern border, which it shares with China, including at Nathu La.

The Sunday Guardian spoke to serving and retired Army officers, on and off the record, who have spent a considerable time at the India-chinese borders, to find out the reality of the PLA, which, thanks to its focus on psy-war and image building, has created a larger than life image for itself in the virtual arena.

All these Indian officers had engaged in one-to-one confrontations with their Chinese counterparts multiple times during their posting.

According to these veterans and serving officers, the PLA’S men, especially those who are asked to serve at the India-china borders, are not very motivated because of the physical hardship they have to endure and the low pay, which, in their view, does not justify the hardship that they have to face.

Indian Army officers have also learnt, while interacting with PLA officers, that the PLA is an extremely corrupt force. This is also evident from the punishment meted out to more than 100 PLA officers at or above the corps-level. These men included two former Central Military Commission vice chairmen who were investigated and punished in the last few years by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The

A boy wearing a protective face mask sits on a bucket outside a house, as the coronavirus pandemic rages in New Delhi, on Wednesday.

PLA needs to rely on “fear” to push its men, especially its lower ranks, to keep them motivated in inhospitable terrains like Nathu La, where action takes place at a height of more than 14,000 feet.

The PLA, as these Indian officers shared with the department concerned in the South Block, lacked cohesiveness among its cadre, who have massive disrespect for their superiors. The lack of fraternal feelings among the PLA men is easily visible.

“Theirs is not a motivated Army. PLA relies on fear to extract performance, which does not work in a place like Nathu La. They are extremely low paid. My counterpart once told me that he gets one third of what I get. In PLA, there is no recognition of the fallen, as was evident from the recent 15 June standoff, unlike in our country where the fallen are treated like God and their names are engraved in memory for eternity,” a retired colonel, who was post