Ajit Karn
On Monday, the White House refused to corroborate a media report claiming that the United States provided vital intelligence to the Indian military that assisted it in successfully combating Chinese “incursions” last year. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications at the White House, told reporters at a daily news conference, in response to a question about the news report, “No, I cannot confirm that.”
The media reported in an exclusive article that India was able to repel a Chinese military incursion in border territory in the high Himalayas late last year due to unprecedented intelligence-sharing with the US military, an act that surprised China’s People’s Liberation Army, enraged Beijing, and appears to have forced the Chinese Communist Party to reconsider its approach to land grabs along its borders.
A source familiar with a previously unreported U.S. intelligence review of the encounter in the Arunachal Pradesh region stated, “For the first time, the U.S. government provided its Indian counterparts with real-time information regarding Chinese positions and force strength prior to a PLA incursion.”
“The information included actionable satellite imagery and was more detailed and delivered faster than anything the U.S. had previously shared with the Indian military,” the report stated.
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“They were holding out. The United States had provided India with everything it needed to be completely prepared for this. It exemplifies the effectiveness of how the two militaries are now cooperating and sharing intelligence, according to an unnamed source quoted by a newspaper.
