Amid standoff, army chief in Leh

JAMMU: Close on the heels of Chinese incursion at Pangong Lake on August 15, army chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday arrived in Leh on a three-day visit to take stock of the situation in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to arrive in the border town on Monday.

“The army chief arrived in Leh on Sunday and the President will attend a function of Ladakh Scouts on Monday,” said a top officer of the Udhampur-based Northern Command.

Northern army commander Lt Gen Devraj Anbu and other top army commanders had reached Leh to receive the army chief.

While the top officer described the army chief’s visit as a routine exercise, defence sources said that following Chinese incursion and subsequent action by the Indian troops on August 15, the army chief shall be taking stock of the situation from ground zero. The Chinese troops had clashed with Indian troops and pelted stones at them near Pangong Lake on August 15.

Security experts expressed concerns over the stone-pelting incident between the two armies even as the two sides were strictly adhering to banner drills and other border mechanisms to defuse tension and resolving incursions. General Rawat will also take stock of the operational preparedness of the Indian army at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).