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Lieutenant General Yogesh Joshi, The Indian Army’s Northern Command received the call at 8:15 p.m. He felt uneasy about the information he received. Four Chinese tanks, supported by infantry, began climbing a steep mountain road towards Rechin La in eastern Ladakh. Joshi reported the move to Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane, who quickly grasped the seriousness of the situation. The tank was within a few hundred meters of an Indian position in the Kailash Range, a strategic height that the Indian army had captured hours earlier in a dangerous contest with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Located on the disputed Line of Actual Control (the de facto border between the two countries), this terrain offers strategic advantages with every meter of elevation gain.

Indian soldiers fired flares as a kind of warning shot. It had no effect. The Chinese army continued to advance. Naravane began making frantic phone calls to leaders of India’s political and military establishment, including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defense Staff; and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. “My question to each person was, ‘What are my orders?'” Naravane wrote in his unpublished memoirs. Four stars of destiny.

The situation had deteriorated dramatically and clarity was needed. There was an existing protocol. Naravane had clear orders not to fire “until he left the top”. His boss gave no clear instructions. A few minutes have passed. At 9:10 p.m., Joshi called again. The Chinese tanks continued to advance until the pass was less than a kilometer away. At 9:25 p.m., Mr. Naravain called Rajnath again and asked, “Please give me clear directions.” No one came.