The Chinese were surprised by this well-orchestrated response from Indian troops which subsequently led to a change in Beijing's attitude towards New Delhi.
In the summer of 1986, India learnt "the Chinese had crossed the Thagla Ridge and occupied a feature called Le, built permanent barracks as well as a helipad," former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran recalled the incident while delivering the second K Subrahmanyam lecture here.
He said he saw this in some way linked to the hardening of the Chinese position on the border and the new insistence on India making concessions in the eastern sector.
The previous year, he recalled, China had begun to signal it was unwilling to legitimise the ceasefire line arrived at after the 1962 war as a border.
"It was also conveyed to us that at a minimum Tawang would have to be transferred to the Chinese side, Saran recalled.
The Chinese were infuriated when Gen Sundarji airlifted troops to the Thagla ridge and made them take positions just 10 meters from a Chinese forward post, he said.
Also Read
"I recall accompanying Ambassador K P S Menon to lodge a protest with the then Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister and being witness to a most undiplomatic, offensive and vituperative harangue by the latter," recalled Saran, who was then posted in Beijing.
"The Chinese were taken completely by surprise as perhaps were our own political leaders," he said. (more)