India has pushed in high altitude warfare troops with support elements to the eastern Ladakh theatre to counter Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aggressive posture designed to browbeat the government to stop building border infrastructure in the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO)?sector as it may threaten the Lhasa-Kashgar highway in Aksai Chin. The specialised Indian troops are familiar with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and are tuned for operating at rarefied altitudes.The scale of PLA deployment - two brigades strength and more - indicates that the move has the sanction of Beijing and not limited to local military commanders.“From Australia to Hong Kong to Taiwan to the South China Sea to India and right up to the US, a bellicose China is staring at the world for domination at all costs,” said a senior government official after a meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation on Tuesday.For three faces at PM Modi’s strategy meeting, this was the second time in three years that they were faced with a similar situation. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. This was the team that had crafted India’s response to the Doklam standoff in 2017 that lasted 73 days. General Rawat was then the army chief and Jaishankar, India’s foreign secretary.The messaging from Tuesday’s meeting mirrored India’s response to the 2017 standoff when Indian troops dug in and stood their ground in the face of a rapid mobilisation by the Chinese side.Officials said while India favours de-escalating the situation on the LAC through mutual respect and dialogue under the peace and tranquility mechanism in place, PM Modi’s ‘Doklam team’ has been told to prepare for all eventualities.