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Degree of standoff exists along LAC, need to restore trust: Indian Army chief

ByRahul Singh, New Delhi
Jan 14, 2025 09:21 AM IST

Corps commanders along the entire stretch of the LAC, from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, have been delegated powers to resolve “trivial issues and minor frictions”.

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday said a “degree of standoff” remains along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the sensitive Ladakh sector following developments that took place after the border row erupted in April 2020, and the two sides must reach a broader understanding on how to calm the situation down and restore the trust, describing the situation as “stable but sensitive.”

Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi in New Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)
Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi in New Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)

He ruled out any plans to cut troop levels along the disputed mountain frontier during the current winter.

“As far as the standoff is concerned, we have to see what all has changed after April 2020. Both sides have doctored the terrain (through deployments and construction), carried out billeting construction and there has been stocking and deployment. This means there is a degree of standoff,” Dwivedi said at his annual media briefing ahead of the upcoming Army Day.

Dwivedi’s comments, in response to a question on the situation along the LAC, came two-and-a-half months after the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) resumed their patrolling activities in Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.

The disengagement in the two areas began on October 23, 2024, two days after India and China announced a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their stand-off in Depsang and Demchok, the last two flashpoints in Ladakh where the two armies were eyeball-to-eyeball since April 2020.

The trust between the two countries must have a new definition after the changed scenario on both sides of the LAC following the developments that took place after April 2020, the army chief said.

“There is a requirement for us to sit together and come to a broader understanding on how we want to kind of calm the situation down and restore the trust. So, we are now looking forward to the next meeting of the Special Representatives on the border issue and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs, and we will move forward based on their guidance...India has adequate strategic patience,” Dwivedi said.

The Special Representatives on the border issue — India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval and China’s foreign minister Wang Yi — met in Beijing on December 18, 2024, for their first formal talks in nearly five years. The 32nd meeting of the WMCC was held in Delhi on December 5.

Corps commanders along the entire stretch of the LAC, from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, have been delegated powers to resolve “trivial issues and minor frictions” so they don’t snowball into bigger issues, he said.

Dwivedi said the verification of patrolling in Depsang and Demchok has thus far been completed twice and both sides are satisfied.

India and China earlier disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15), areas where so-called buffer zones were created to temporarily restrict the patrolling activities of both armies. The zones of separation were aimed at eliminating the possibility of violent face-offs. The lifting of the moratorium on patrolling these areas by both sides will depend on the outcome of further talks.

There is no such thing as a buffer zone, the army chief said.

“When you carry out a negotiation then you look at what can be solved immediately and what will take some time. Where you feel that the degree of violence can be high and the fuse is short, you create some distances. When we carried out these negotiations over a period, a temporary moratorium (on patrolling) was declared at some places. It means that both sides will stay back and will not go to the common areas because we still feel that if we meet at those places the violence level may go up.”

Troop deployment along the LAC is directly dependent on the trust factor between the two armies, he said. The deployment and infrastructure development are dependent on the capability on the other side, and not on the presence of troops there, he pointed out.

“As of today, the capability on the other side entails that we should continue to maintain this kind of troop level. We have two types of deployment --- summer and winter. In the winter strategy, we are not looking at any reduction of troops. When it comes to the summer strategy, we will carry out a review based on how many negotiations, conferences and meetings have taken place, and the indications and assurances coming from there,” he said.

In November 2024, defence minister Rajnath Singh held talks with his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun at Vientiane in Laos and emphasised the need for the two countries to work towards de-escalation of the conflict in the Ladakh theatre on the back of the disengagement of Indian and Chinese armies from Depsang and Demchok, adding that it would help build greater trust and confidence between the two sides.

To be sure, disengagement from friction areas is the first step towards cooling border tensions. De-escalation of the lingering conflict and the eventual de-induction of rival soldiers must follow to restore peace and tranquillity in the sector. Both armies still have tens of thousands of troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre.

On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Dwivedi said the violence level there is being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism: Pakistan, where terror infrastructure is intact.

“We inducted 15,000 additional troops in 2024 and that’s why the violence level has gone down... we have been able to neutralise 73 terrorists out of which 60% were from Pakistan. The Parliamentary and assembly elections had almost 60% voting each. It means that the local population is going with peace,” he said, adding that the government had approved emergency procurement for counter-terror operations.

He said 80% of the terrorists operating in J&K were from Pakistan.

The country celebrates January 15 as Army Day as it was on this day that General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) took charge of the force from General Francis Robert Roy Bucher 76 yrs ago. Cariappa was the first Indian officer to be appointed army chief, a position he held for four years.

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