Amid tensions at LAC, India keeps eye on LoC

NEW DELHI: At a time when India and China are locked in a standoff along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the military is also keeping a strict vigil on the western front to deter Pakistan from fishing in troubled waters and prevent what could turn out to be a two-front conflict, officials and China watchers said on Wednesday.

Reports prepared by the parliamentary standing committee on defence over the last decade have delved into the threat China and Pakistan could pose together. Pakistan was likely to step up hostilities if China were to launch offensive operations against India, a senior IAF officer told the committee in 2014. He, however, stressed that China might not pose a collusive threat if hostilities were to break out between India and Pakistan. “The possibility of a two-front war is unlikely. But we have to stay militarily prepared,” said an official.

An IAF helicopter flies over Leh in Ladakh. PTI