India's Most Fearless 3- New Military Stories of Unimaginable Courage and Sacrifice

An army medic who went beyond the call of duty amid a frenzy of treacherous bloodletting in Ladakh’s Galwan while his fellow soldiers fought the Chinese to death; the crew of an Indian Navy destroyer that put everything on the line to rescue hundreds from Cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea; an Indian Air Force pilot who ejected from his doomed fighter less than two seconds before it hit the ground, only to find he was missing a leg.

This book presents their accounts, or of those who were with them in their final moments. India’s Most Fearless 3 features ten true stories of extraordinary courage and fearlessness, providing glimpses of the heroism Indian soldiers have displayed in unthinkably hostile conditions and under grave provocation.

Shiv Aroor

is executive editor and anchor with India Today TV and has covered the Indian military for nearly two decades. He has reported from conflict zones that include Kashmir, India's North-east, Sri Lanka and Libya. For the latter, he won two awards for war reporting. Shiv also runs the popular award-winning military news and analysis site Livefist, on which he frequently tells the stories of India's military heroes.

Rahul Singh

is a senior associate editor with Hindustan Times and has covered defence and military affairs for over two decades. Apart from extensive and deep reporting from the world of Indian military, including several newsbreaks that have set the national news agenda over the years, Rahul has reported from conflict zones including Kashmir, India's North-east and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first story on the ongoing India-China border conflict appeared under his byline in 2020.

At the time this book goes to print, it has been more than two years since the world's largest modern military standoff began in the icy hellscape of eastern Ladakh. As the two armies remain massed in war-like numbers against each other across frosted plains, frozen lakes and mountains that disappear into the clouds, the standoff between India and China is far from over. As the carnage and close-quarter suspense that defined the first few months of the conflict turn into a slower, calmer but insidiously permanent confrontation, much of what happened has lain hidden in the storm of propaganda, claims and counterclaims.

The incident that sent the unprecedented Ladakh standoff exploding into the minds of millions across India took place on 15 June 2020, on a desolate riverbend in Ladakh's Galwan River valley. Months of coverage uncovered the reality of a terrifying clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers. But the complete story of what happened that night has never been fully told.

And that's why we believe the book you are about to read is so important, not just to the legacy of the India's Most Fearless series, but in terms of giving our countrymen first hand accounts of the biggest operations and incidents involving the Indian military. This third edition of the series begins with a first-hand account of the Galwan incident by officers and men of the 16th Battalion of the Bihar Regiment, who fought the Chinese that night and survived. Hair-raising as it was, the account proves the many shades of grey that define combat, a far cry from the black-and-white certainties they seem to us from all this distance away.

The Indian Army permitted us generous access to Colonel Ravi Kant-the officer who succeeded 16 Bihar commanding officer Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who was killed in action in the clash and awarded the hallowed Maha Vir Chakra for uncommon courage and leadership as well as other soldiers from the battalion, allowing us to present the only first-hand account of what happened that night.

**Contents and Sample Pages**