De-escalation is the way forward: Rajnath
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that disengagement of rival troops and de-escalation of the border conflict with China in the Ladakh sector was the way forward, and the ongoing talks for peaceful resolution of the standoff would continue even as Indian troops stand firm on the ground.
“It is our ‘whole-of-the-government’ approach to ensure availability of best weapons, equipment and clothing to our troops braving extreme weather and hostile forces to defend our territorial integrity,” Singh said, addressing the army’s top commanders, which ends on Friday.
While disengagement and de-escalation are the way forward, it is essential to read into the extensive infrastructure being created by the Chinese PLA in proximity to LAC and in Tibet, which sends out ominous signals, said Lieutenant General Rakesh Sharma (retd), a military affairs expert and former commander of the Leh-based HQs 14 Corps.
The army’s top brass also assessed the impact of the RussiaUkraine war on India’s military preparedness as two-thirds of the country’s military equipment is of Russian-origin, officials said.
Singh also announced an upward revision in the risk and hardship allowance for soldiers posted in field areas. “After the Pulwama attack, a CRPF jawan posted in a field area was drawing a risk and hardship allowance of around ₹20,000, compared to ₹10,000 that a soldier posted in the same location was getting. It’s good that parity has been restored now,” said an official. A case to increase the allowance was taken up by the department of defence in 2019 and by the department of military affairs in 2020 before it was approved. The allowance for officers and men will be admissible from February 2019, and the cash outgo for the Centre will be ₹10,000 crore, the officials said.