India-China Border Dispute: From Ladakh To Northeast, 6 Indian Army Divisions Shifted To Counter PLA's Threat
The military stalemate with China has lasted over two years, when the Chinese side sought to change the status quo unilaterally by sending huge numbers of soldiers against Indian positions.
New Delhi: During a recent visit to the Ladakh sector, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande reviewed the security situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in light of the Chinese threat, for which the Indian Army has shifted six divisions previously deployed in counter-terrorism roles and after taking care of the Pakistan front, news agency PTI reported.
The military stalemate with China has lasted over two years, when the Chinese side sought to change the status quo unilaterally by sending huge numbers of soldiers against Indian positions.
The Indian Army has been rebalancing and realigning its troops, which were previously more equipped for the Pakistan threat than the problems posed by its northern frontiers.
According to senior government sources, once this rebalancing and realignment process was completed over the previous two years, two divisions (about 35,000 troops) have been pulled up from counter-terrorism tasks to oversee the China border deployment.
One division of the Rashtriya Rifles was removed from counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir and has now been deployed in the Eastern Ladakh area, joining with the three divisions already stationed there, they claimed.
Similarly, an Assam-based Division of the Tezpur-based Gajaraj Corps has been relieved of its counter-insurgency responsibilities in the state, and its new purpose is to protect the China border in the northeast, they claimed.
According to the sources, without this creation, there is no Army unit participating in counter-terrorism operations in the state of Assam.
The 17 Mountain Strike Corps, which previously had missions in the Ladakh region, has now been limited to the Northeast exclusively, with one additional Division headquartered in Jharkhand. Previously, the division was charged with carrying out strike actions throughout the Western front.
Two Army Divisions from Uttar Pradesh have been allocated to the Northern Command for the Ladakh theatre. According to them, the two units were formerly charged with fighting on the Western front in the event of a conflict.
Similarly, a Strike Corps Division headquartered in Uttarakhand has been shifted to the Central Command to oversee the whole Central region, where the Chinese have attempted incursions on many occasions, they claimed.
According to sources, the rebalancing has resulted in the deployment of two of the Army's four Strike Corps with offensive elements on the China border, when previous to April-May 2022, three of them were primarily responsible for Pakistan.
The significant deployment by India has also conveyed a message to the Chinese military that any attempt to change the status quo on the LAC would be futile, they added.
Following the massive deployment of the Chinese Army on Indian borders, India rushed in soldiers in the same fashion, sending roughly 50,000 troops there.
(With Inputs From ANI)
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