The Indian Army, if it had ideas of what to do, and how, they were on a tight leash. It was reiterated time and again that India “never invaded.” And, that, said with a brag and boast! The Indian Army never crosses the LAC, nor does it fire firearms at the Chinese PLA!

If the PLA did some occasional salami-slicing, wtf? We ought to be glad for the crumbs thrown to us. Forget the fact that Tibet was not part of China and Arunachal Pradesh was not ‘South Tibet,’ ever.

If anything, Tibet should have been freed the day before, not just in the graffiti on the rocks lining the winding mountain road to Kodaikanal.

Now, all of a sudden, there’s talk of ‘Tibet 2020’ and ‘Tibet is not China.’ O, yes, of course, there’s also the Special Frontier Force (SFF) comprising Tibetan commandos in the Indian Army waiting to march on Lhasa.

What’s more, there’s already an SFF martyr – a Nyima Tenzin, 51, who was laid to rest in Leh the other day, draped in the tricolor and the Tibetan ‘sunrises’ flag.

A Government of India representative in the shape and form of Ram Madhav was at hand to give meaning to the ceremony, which was solemn and raucous at the same time, a feat possible only because of the Tibetan Buddha and our own rolled-gold Ram acting in tandem!

Ram Madhav did not have to open his mouth to state the obvious. The Chinese understood. And the PLA reacted. Five Arunachali were kidnapped by the PLA from within India’s borders.

On questioning, the Chinese Government refused to discuss the five except to give the impression that Arunachal was ‘South Tibet’ and the five Arunachali were Chinese citizens who need no introduction or production! Go figure. But, as figured out, the Government of India has not spoken so far. Even the Arunachali in Modi’s ministry, Kiran Rijiju, is mum.

As for EAM S. Jaishankar, he’s all set to travel to Moscow on the heels of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh who, they say gave China’s military-coated Defence Minister a dose of his legendry ‘Kadi Nindha’ –a medicine so far left untested, but which, say the Pakistani media, gave the Chinese Def Minister jitters.

According to rumours and canards, the Indian Army is 4 km on the other side of the LAC and the Chinese PLAGF – the ‘GF’ standing for ‘ground forces’ – isn’t smiling nor is it shouting except for the griping, which it isn’t quite used to. There’s talk that the Indian Army’s resolute determination is proving to be too hard for the Chinese to take and there’s also a steady erosion of the Chinese counter-resolve.

One gung ho hunky-dory Indian writer calls this the “new strategic landscape in Ladakh,” and that India’s revamped military strategy has “turned the tables” on China’s PLA. India has thrown its "defensive game" out the window, asserts gung ho, giving Indian soldiers (led by the Tibetan SFF) a clear sight of the tens of hundreds of roofs on the Roof of the World. What say?

The Indian Army now dominates 39 high points along the LAC, giving it unparalleled advantages. This military domination, according to some never heard before military geniuses, will help India gain the upper hand in any skirmish or battle, indeed war, and negotiations. Our tanks and other military hardware have smooth access to the very top.

What has really changed in the interregnum is that the LAC is no longer a hand-to-hand combat line of action. The Indian Army has for once and all changed the rules of engagement. ‘Give us an excuse and we’ll fire,’ is the new thumb rule with a finger on the trigger. Indian soldiers are firing their automatic rifles over the heads of Chinese PLA troopers. It’s unnerving.

The majority of ordinary Indians – Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Aam Aadmi’ and RK Laxman’s ‘Common Man’ – think the time has come, time for the ‘Indian Century’, and that China will have to pace itself back while India takes bigger-than-baby steps to attain a fantastic future. All India will have to do is to take Tibet away from under China’s flared up nostrils.

Piece of cake! In the changed geopolitical circumstances. With the United States in India’s corner. But while the Indian hoi polloi are in cheering mood, the ruling elite are not as high on the hill as they should be.

Tibetans of Himachal Pradesh and Leh, those in the Special Frontier Force, and others who cook up ‘momo’ in Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tila, all the China-haters, look like they’re barking up the wrong tree.

India’s ‘we have never ever invaded’ fantasy-policy and misplaced pride is going to take them all down. EAM Jaishanker is set to give Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reason to smile with some “deep conversations.”

Actually, that is the psyche of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the eternally 'nearly-there-but-ever far-away' man born to lead India, but not to lead Tibet out of Han-slavery to freedom. O! No. The shifting LAC is our limit and we’ll not stick our Indian chicken neck out. Not even for the Tibetan lama! And the Tibetan SFF. (IPA Service)