Days after the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Army chief General MM Naravane visited the Ladakh border to review the operational situation along the disputed border with China.
According to a Time of India report, the Army chief reviewed the “forward position of the Indian troops” on the ground. He was accompanied by Northern Command chief Lt General YK Joshi, Leh-based 14 Corps commander Lt General Harinder Singh.
“The Northern Command is on a high alert due to repeated provocations by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). But with talks with China, through military and diplomatic channels, are also under way to defuse tensions. With regular brigadier-level meetings at border meeting points (BPMs) and hotline talks between local commanders, there is the possibility the situation will de-escalate in the coming dats,” The Times of India quoted a source as saying.
On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area in which soldiers on both sides sustained injuries.
In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector on May 9. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries.
The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it.
Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
China has been critical of India’s reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir, and has particularly criticized New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.
(With PTI inputs)
