The Army on Tuesday dismissed as “fake” a few online media reports emanating from China that the People’s Liberation Army had used microwave weapons to force Indian soldiers to retreat during the ongoing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh. The news came after Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at the Beijing-based Renmin University, claimed during a lecture that Chinese troops turned two strategic hilltops “into a microwave oven”, forcing Indian soldiers to retreat. These positions were “retaken” by Chinese soldiers without an exchange of fire, the professor added. He claimed that this was on August 29 and following this, the Indian troops on the two hilltops began to vomit and were forced to withdraw, allowing the positions to be retaken by Chinese soldiers. An Army Officer said that the news is fake, ludicrous claim, part of the continuing psychological operations from across the border. PLA does not seem to have recovered from the shock of our troops occupying multiple Kailash range heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso-Chushul on August 29-30.
The microwave weapons heat water molecules in the same way as the kitchen appliance, targeting water under the skin and causing increasing amounts of pain to the target from ranges of up to 0.6 miles away. India’s military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh is into its seventh month now, with over 50,000 soldiers each from the two armies, backed by howitzers, tanks and missile systems, remaining deployed in the high-altitude region. Though military and diplomatic talks are under way, the exact modalities and sequencing of the proposed disengagement are yet to be finalised.
