Defence infra push underway in Ladakh
AMID CHINA STANDOFF
NEW DELHI: The Indian Army is building infrastructure at a rapid pace in eastern Ladakh with a focus on better living experience and improved facilities for soldiers, conservation of modern weapons and equipment deployed there, and supporting faster movement of men and material to deal with any contingency in the midst of the lingering border standoff with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the sensitive sector, officials familiar with the development said on Tuesday.
India has inducted thousands of extra troops and modern military weaponry into the Ladakh sector to counter the Chinese military build-up after the standoff began two and a half years ago. The altered dynamic along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) necessitated the infrastructure push aimed at enhancing efficiency of the army’s deployments, said one of the officials cited above, who asked not to be named.
The steps taken by the army to support its forward deployments along LAC include building of modular shelters for troops deployed at heights of up to 18,000 feet, habitat for reserve troops in rear locations, storage facilities for tanks, artillery guns, underground facilities for ammunition storage, airfields, and new roads, bridges and tunnels in difficult terrain for improved connectivity with forward areas.
The army has also built ponds in high altitude areas in Ladakh to provide drinking water to troops.
Infrastructure is not only coming up in Ladakh but also in the central (Uttarakhand) and eastern sectors (Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh) to cater to the army’s needs, said a second official.
“It’s very heartening to see the push being given to infrastructure development along LAC. At the altitudes at which the LAC lies, the quality of infrastructure will be a key factor in both peacetime border management and war,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd). To be sure, PLA has significantly modernised defence infrastructure across LAC after the standoff began in May 2020.
The army’s infrastructure push comes alongside efforts to upgrade military capability. The army is also pursuing the development of light tanks for mountain warfare and futuristic infantry combat vehicles (FICVS), as previously reported.
In January 2022, former army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said the silver lining to the border crisis was that India used it as an opportunity to fast-track infrastructure development, undertake doctrinal reviews and fill operational voids through emergency purchases.