LEH: Asserting that the status quo is maintained with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said that talks are going on at different levels to further normalise the relations between the two countries.
“The status quo is maintained with China on LAC. Talks are going on at different levels and all our formations are at a high level of operation preparedness,” said Lt Gen Dwivedi, while addressing a mega ‘Veterans Sampark’ rally at Digiana in Jammu.
The comments from Lt Gen Dwivedi, who took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC) of Northern Command, and Ladakh Scouts on February 1 last year, came after his extended stay in Ladakh last week during which he visited the forward areas and took a first-hand review of the security situation.
The Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been locked in a standoff in multiple areas along the LAC in eastern Ladakh since May 2020, even as the two sides completed disengagement of troops from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
Lieutenant Governor Brigadier (Dr) B D Mishra on Monday had reviewed the security situation in forward areas of Ladakh with Lt Gen Rashim Bali, the General Officer Commanding of Fire & Fury Corps, briefing him on the operational preparedness of the troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control with China, especially in the eastern part of Ladakh.
The developments are to be seen in the context of the centre government’s back-to-back meetings on the Ladakh situation, of which LG Mishra was a part, and the visits of the top brass of Army in the forward areas in eastern and northern sub-sector of Ladakh.
It may be mentioned here that last week Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had chaired a high-level meeting in this regard which was attended by Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Brigadier B D Mishra, besides National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and among other senior ministers. The meeting had decided to take up the projects in Ladakh at the top priority for their early completion in view of the heightened tension with China along the Line of Actual Control.
Lt Gen Bali, along with the Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi who camped in Ladakh last week, had made multiple visits to forward areas.
The two had reviewed the operational preparedness of troops and exhorted them to strive for excellence on Wednesday, a day before they reviewed the security situation in Northern Sub Sector in Ladakh. The two had also met Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel in forward areas at Line of Actual Control.
They made another visit to forward posts in Siachen and reviewed operational preparedness in the world’s highest battlefield, which was also the first port of call of Lt General Rashim Bali who took over as the corps commander of the strategically based XIV Corps of the Army last week.
Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had termed the situation along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh as ‘very fragile’, saying that it has been further made ‘quite dangerous’ in military assessment because of close deployments of troops of both sides in some pockets.
The minister’s comments have come a day after Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said that the situation along the LAC is stable but there is a need to keep a “very close watch” on it.
Meanwhile, Lt Gen Dwivedi also talked about continuity of the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan but said there have been some infiltration attempts which have been successfully foiled by the Indian Army.
“The situation in the hinterland is largely under control. Our counter-insurgency/counter terrorism grid is fully working with civil administration and efforts are on to stop terror incidents completely,” he said.
Referring to the Agniveer scheme, he said under the new policy there will be a written test first and only those who pass the written test will be called for physical and medical tests.
He said the Army is committed to provide alternate career options to its veterans and has set up Army Welfare Placement Organisation and Directorate of Resettlement North Zone.
