China’s cat army is of no consequence to us: A K Anthony

After reports of China raising a feline army started trickling in, the Indian defence bureaucracy went into the usual huddle and came out with assurances that the development will not be of much consequence to India or its forces.

Chinese feline soldier

The Associate Press had reported yesterday that stray cats being rounded up in a remote west China city are being used to catch rodents that have infested surrounding pasture lands. Now every knows that China often undertakes military adventures under the garb of civilian work and so it won’t come as a surprise if China manages to deploy a feline division across her disputed border with neighbours in the near future.

“We are aware of the episode and since it falls outside the purview of the national defence apparatus, the home ministry has stepped in. I have had a word with Chidu in the morning and he has assured me that India will also raise a paramilitary feline force under the home ministry soon. We are just being cautious here. Otherwise the whole thing is of little concern to us,” Defence Minister A K Anthony said. He also dismissed reports that India has intel on China building extensive feline infrastructure including all-weather sandboxes across the Line of Actual Control (LaC).

Home ministry sources could not be reached for comment. A senior analyst from the Institute of Defense Studies contacted by Humor Unplugged cautioned the defence minister against taking the whole issue lightly. “We cannot predict Chinese behaviour and there are no sustained patterns that we are witnessing here. Right now we have no idea on how and where the Feline Liberation Army (FLA) will be deployed and where the operational theater would be as feline soldiers are being trained in various terrains and operational scenarios. Our immediate concern would be an intrusion by the FLA in sensitive areas across the LaC,” the analyst said.