New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff, General M.M. Naravane, has said China has deployed troops in considerable numbers across Ladakh and expressed concern in this regard.
General Naravane said “China has deployed in considerable numbers all across Eastern Ladakh and Northern front right up to our Eastern command”.
“Definitely, there has been an increase in their deployment in the forward areas which remains a matter of concern for us,” he added.
General Naravane said the Indian side is “regularly monitoring all their movements”.
“Based on the inputs we get, we are also carrying out matching developments both in infrastructure as well in terms of troops that are needed to counter any threat. At the moment, we are quite well poised to meet any eventuality,” he added, ANI reported.
The Army Chief’s statement came ahead of the 13th round of talks between the two sides on the Ladakh standoff and military forces’ disengagement.
Earlier on Friday, General Naravane reached eastern Ladakh for a two-day visit to review the operational preparedness in the region.
He visited the Rezang La War Memorial, which is close to Rezang La and Rechin La, two of the points from where the forces of both nations had disengaged earlier in February.
General Naravane had earlier said the border incidents between New Delhi and Beijing will continue to occur till a boundary agreement is reached between the two sides.
“We have an outstanding border issue. We are again well prepared to meet any misadventure that may occur as we have demonstrated in the past,” General Naravane said.
“Such kinds of incidents will continue to occur till such time that a long-term solution is reached, and that is to have a boundary agreement. And that should be the thrust of our efforts so that we have lasting peace along the northern (China) border,” he added.
The two forces have disengaged from Gogra Post, but Hot Springs continues to be a friction area.
Besides Hot Springs, the Chinese troops have been blocking Indian soldiers from accessing their traditional patrolling points in Depsang Plains, which is close to the strategically significant Daulat Beg Oldie base in the north.
Earlier on September 16, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar met China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the 21st SCO Meeting of the Head of States.
The two leaders exchanged views on the current situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh as well as on global developments.
The External Affairs Minister noted that the two sides had since their last meeting on July 14 made some progress in the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and had completed the disengagement in Gogra area.
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“However there were still some outstanding issues that needed to be resolved,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a release regarding the meeting.
The last discussion between the two countries had taken place earlier on July 31 during which both sides had agreed to disengage from Gogra Post of Patrolling Point 17A.