Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): Army Chief General MM Naravane arrived in Leh this morning on a two-day visit to review operational preparedness amid mounting tensions between India and China in Eastern Ladakh in the wake of fresh attempts by PLA to change the status quo at Pangong Tso lake.
Defence officials said that Gen Naravane met top Army officials in Leh and sought feedback from them on recent brigade commander level talks with the Chinese military.
The Army chief’s visit comes in the backdrop of the two incursion attempts by China at LAC. First, on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday when the Chinese Army made an attempt to change the status quo on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake along LAC, but it was thwarted by the Indian Army.
PLA made a second incursion attempt on Monday even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation. That attempt too was thwarted by the alert Indian troops.
Official sources said that the Army chief will be in Ladakh for two days and will review the security situation in the region along LAC, especially Pangong Tso lake where both Indian and Chinese troops have been deployed in large numbers in the wake of fresh stand-off.
Brigade Commander-level Flag meetings were also held after the fresh set of skirmishes to pacify the situation after the fresh Chinese transgressions.
Ladakh’s former MLA and senior political leader, Deldan Namgyal told NVI that the situation in Eastern Ladakh is highly alarming as China has encroached the Indian territory and the fresh incursion in the area by the PLA has forced the government to snap telecom services in the area close to Line of actual control (LAC).
It may be recalled that this is the second visit of the Army chief to the Ladakh amid tensions with China. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat had recently said that India has military option to deal with China if talks fail.
India and China are locked in a stand-off since the last four months, triggered by China’s aggressive actions at multiple points in the Eastern Ladakh sector in early May. On one occasion, the militaries of the two countries engaged in a bloody fight on June 15, in which India lost 20 soldiers, including a Colonel. China also suffered an unspecified number of casualties.
Over these last four months, several rounds of talks have been held at military and diplomatic levels but China has refused to pull back its troops from the friction points, in its attempt to change the status quo at the LAC.
-ARK
