Army’s Northern Command chief Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Friday said in order to prevent smaller incidents escalating into bigger ones along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China have established various channels of communication at battalion and brigade levels in the strategic Ladakh region.
Addressing mediapersons on the sidelines of North Tech Symposium at Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, Lt Gen Dwivedi said, “The situation on the LAC as of now is stable, but it is in the state of heightened alert. Why? Because we don’t want the situation which took place in April 2020 to be repeated. As a result, the deployment of force as well as equipment is calibrated in nature and we will make sure that any kind of misadventure by the adversary doesn’t take place again.”
The Northern Command chief said a slew of measures have been put in place to prevent the smaller incidents escalating into bigger confrontations. “To make sure that there is no irritant, which can turn into a violent situation, we have opened up various channels of communication at the lower level, that is battalion and brigade level, and have regular hotline exchanges,” he added.
“We have also stopped the system of body pushing, which used to be there earlier, and ensuring no physical contact,” Lt Gen Dwivedi said.
{{/usCountry}}“We have also stopped the system of body pushing, which used to be there earlier, and ensuring no physical contact,” Lt Gen Dwivedi said.
{{/usCountry}}“We sit down together at battalion and brigade levels and come to an amicable solution. As far as difference of perception of the LAC is concerned, it’s required to be handled at the higher level, that is corps commander or MEA level. These meetings keep taking place regularly as you are aware of the 15th meeting that was held on March 11,” he added.
“Earlier, we used to say Chinese have strategic patience. They are ready to wait. Now, the present India has come a long way. We also have strategic patience and are ready to wait,” Lt Gen Dwivedi said.
“We must negotiate instead of letting the violence level get heightened again,” he added.
‘200 terrorists ready to be launched into J&K from across the border’
The Northern Command chief said that infiltration is drastically down, yet there are 200 terrorists staged across the border ready to be launched into Jammu and Kashmir.
In the hinterland, he said, 40 to 50 local terrorists were present.
“About foreign terrorists, we can’t say for sure as of today, but the way we have neutralised 21 such militants, it goes to show that the shelter which was being provided to them is going down with every passing day,” he added.
“Similarly, the number of local terrorists is also dwindling. They are also less trained and are found with pistols,” Lt Gen Dwivedi said.