Who Are India’s “Special Frontier Force” That Thwarted Chinese Actions At Pangong Tso?

2020.09.04

SFF was formed in the aftermath of the 1962 Indo-Sino war. Thousands of exiled Tibetans were recruited (now it has a mixture of Tibetans and Gorkhas). It was initially named Establishment 22 after its first Major General Sujan Singh Uban, an Artillery officer who had commanded 22 Mountain Regiment. He named the covert group after his regiment’s name.

With the high level of defense cooperation with the US at the time, it was decided that the CIA and Intelligence Bureau would train a 5,000-strong force of Tibetans for possible missions against China.