Naravane visits eastern Ladakh
Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday reviewed the army’s operational readiness in eastern Ladakh, where India and China have been locked in a standoff for nearly a year and are currently negotiating a withdrawal of frontline troops and weapons from friction points on the contested border, a senior official familiar with development said.
This is his first visit to eastern Ladakh after the Indian and Chinese armies wrapped up the disengagement process in the Pangong Tso sector in February, with both sides pulling back troops from strategic heights where rival soldiers last year fired shots for the first time at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after 45 years.
The disengagement process between the two armies has hit a wall at other friction points as a result of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) reluctance to pull back its forward deployed troops from Hot Springs, Gogra, and Depsang.
The army chief will visit forward areas, including the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector, on Wednesday, he said. The army chief visited Siachen Glacier, where two soldiers were killed in an avalanche on April 25.
“Gen Naravane interacted with the troops and complimented them for their steadfastness while being deployed in some of the harshest conditions,” the army said in a statement. Lieutenant General PGK Menon, commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps and the man leading the military dialogue with China, briefed Naravane on the security situation in the sector. “As far as Covid situation is concerned, it should not affect the territorial integrity of the country for which the forces have to remain prepared throughout,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General BS Jaswal (retd).