‘Chinese Troops Increased In Eastern Ladakh’: Army Chief

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said on Saturday said that the Chinese troops have been deployed in "considerable numbers" across all eastern Ladakh and northern front, right up to India's eastern command." The Army Chief had visited forward areas in Eastern Ladakh for reviewing the prevailing security situations and India's operational preparedness there he noticed the increase in Chinese troop deployment in the forward areas. He acquired a detailed briefing about the overall situation in the region at the headquarters of the 14 Corps, popularly known as the 'Fire and Fury Corps. He said that China's military developments remain a matter of concern for India.

The Army chief said, "We're regularly monitoring all their (China's) movements. Based on the inputs we get, we're also carrying out matching developments both in infrastructure as well as in terms of troops that are needed to counter any threat…At the moment, India is well poised to meet any eventuality." The development comes ahead of the 13th round of talks that is to be held in the second week of October between the two countries on the Ladakh standoff and disengagement of military forces.

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The Army Chief said that he's hopeful that in the 13th Round of talks both the countries will be able to discuss things out with each other and will be able to reach a consensus on how this disengagement will take place. The Army Chief reassured that "by and by, all the friction points will get resolved". He said "even when the talks had started, people were doubtful whether talks will resolve anything", and mentioned that he was of the "firm opinion that we can resolve our differences through dialogue, and that is what has happened over the last few months."

India and China have been involved in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh for almost 17 months.Wikipedia

India and China have been involved in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh for almost 17 months now after China and India held a talk on 4 September 2020. The two sides had disengaged from most friction points, including Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso, and Gogra Post. After the new developments, the Indian army has deployed the first K9-Vajra self-propelled howitzer regiment in the Ladakh sector along the Line of Actual Control with China for the extreme outcome the country might have to face.

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Elaborating on the ceasefire agreement with Pakistan, which the Directors-General Military Operations (DGMO) of Indian and Pakistani armies had reaffirmed in February, Army Chief General Naravane said the situation is now considerably declining. "Ceasefire understanding was reached towards the end of February. Till end-June (or) beginning (of) July, there were no ceasefire violations whatsoever. But of late there have been increased infiltration attempts that weren't supported by ceasefire violations. In the last 10 days, there have been two ceasefire violations." He informed that he has conveyed through a hotline message & DGMO level talks that take place every week that Pakistan should not give support to terror-related activities.

Keywords: Indo-China, Army, military troops, 13th round of talks