Indian Army: India continues to deploy troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) — the de facto border with China — in a “robust” manner, and is ready for “any kind of situation”, even as patrolling has commenced at the strategic points of Depsang Plains and Demchok area, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Upendra Dwivedi said on Monday.


Addressing his annual press conference, Gen. Dwivedi also said the Indian Army’s efforts towards Jammu and Kashmir’s transition from “terrorism to tourism” are on track, although he acknowledged “increased” activities of terrorism in northern Kashmir. 


“At the northern borders, the situation is sensitive but stable. In October 2024, the situation in Demchok and Depsang became normal, where patrolling has begun, and grazing activities by graziers have resumed,” Gen. Dwivedi said. Even so, he added, troop deployment at the LAC remains “robust and ready for any kind of situation”. 


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The over four-year border standoff between India and China appeared to get closer to resolution in October as the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) disengaged their troops in the Depsang Plains and Demchok area, the final two of multiple friction points in Eastern Ladakh. The disengagement was in line with a patrolling arrangement finalised by both sides on October 21, days before a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.


Modi and Xi held their first bilateral in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in late October. The first round of disengagement took place in September 2022, when the troops on both sides withdrew from the Gogra-Hot Springs area in Ladakh and returned to status quo ante, or the situation before April 2020.


Gen. Dwivedi said on Monday that the decision to resume patrolling at Demchok and Depsang was arrived at after a series of meetings at the diplomatic as well as at the military commanders’ level. The decision, he said, also came about after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in October.


On the issue of the demilitarised or buffer zones that have come up in the Chushul region of the LAC in eastern Ladakh in light of the standoff, the Army Chief categorically said, “There is nothing called buffer zones… The right terminology is ‘temporary moratorium’.” 


He said the temporary moratorium was created in certain areas as the “degree of violence was high” there. Both sides have “doctored the terrain”, he added, hinting at the fact that the area there is not the same as it used to be before the standoff began in April 2020. 


“Trust between both sides has to have a new understanding… Troop deployment is directly dependent on the trust factor,” the Army Chief said.


On winter deployment at the LAC, Dwivedi said there will be “no reduction” in troops. The deployment of troops during summer time will be reviewed later, depending on how the next rounds of meetings between the special representatives go, as also the talks between military commanders and diplomats on both sides. 


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‘Pakistan Epicentre Of Terrorism’


The Army Chief made it clear that the rise in terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has been orchestrated by Pakistan. 


“Violence level in J&K has been high, and it has been orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism, i.e. Pakistan,” the General said.


In north Kashmir, around 60% of terrorism has been carried out by terrorists from Pakistan, while the figure is around 80% for the Jammu region, he added. 


However, he pointed towards the peaceful conduct of elections in J&K last year, and said the Indian Army’s bid to take the region from “terrorism to tourism” is materialising gradually. 


On the situation at the India-Myanmar border, he said a “spillover is taking place”, and fencing of the border is progressing in the region.