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, the news magazine reported.

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, The Sunday Guardian reported.

Indian Army officers have also learnt, while interacting with PLA officers, that the PLA is an extremely corrupt force, reported the news magazine.

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 posted at Leh until recently, told The Sunday Guardian.

Colonel (Retired) L.P. Singh, who has considerable experience of the LAC, said that it would be wrong to think that the Chinese were invincible.

“We are better trained, better led and better battle-hardened/inoculated than them at the tactical level for sure. There are many examples that many of our officers can offer you to substantiate what I am saying,” Singh told the magazine.

India and Chinese troops were engaged in a bitter standoff in Ladakh in recent times.

The violent faceoff between the forces of the two countries in the Galwan Valley recently left 20 Indian Army personnel killed.