Doklam a topic of discussion at OTA

Chennai: The Doklam standoff may have ended but the India-China border tension became the topic of discussion and debate at Officers Training Academy (OTA).
The stand-off was discussed in theory classrooms and at strategy planning area by trainers and students. The Indo-China border which is a difficult terrain featured in the Terrain and Tactic Information complex, a recent addition to the academy, used to familiarise students with warfare tactics.
Students who undergo a rigorous one-year course for short service commission, learn theory or warfare, strategy, physical training, equestrian skills and weapons training among other things at the academy.
Sources said debates are held to improve the communication skills of the cadets, as students are known before they are commissioned. “During their training, they debated and discussed many controversial topics. Doklam conflict was one of them,” said an official.
“Some topics are controversial so the students will be encouraged to take a stand and speak up. Why lady officers come into Army is one such topic.”
The cadets are given training on the strengths and weakness of the armies of other countries. “We had two wars with Pakistan and one with China, the lessons learned from these conflicts are used in the classroom,” he added.
One such lesson that is being taught is building bunds on banks of canal for infiltration or attack, a tactic used by Pakistan against India. Bunds are built and soldiers will hide in bunkers on its embankment, said an officer who explained the ‘White House’ where Terrain and Tactic Information complex is located.
However, a senior officer said Doklam stand-off was not a topic for study. “We teach them the strength and weakness of China, the terrain at the border. What was looked at more keenly was the stand-off in the South China Sea and the moves of North Korea,” he added.
OTA uses strategy from battles that were fought in the past, even the Battle of Marathon during the Greco-Persian war in 490BC. Sand models of border areas too are simulated to practise war strategies.
Prasanth K Mukundan, a junior cadet, said “Instructors teach us to handle all situation and combat. The simulator room has terrain including glaciers.”
In all, 266 gentlemen cadets, 31 lady cadets, 25foreign cadets, most of them from Afghanistan, will pass out of short service commission course next week.