Indian Army Chief Emphasises Boundary Agreement With China To Resolve Border Issue

As far as the terrorist threat is concerned, the Indian Army is ready to meet all challenges, Chief General MM Naravane assured.

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New Delhi: Army Chief General MM Naravane said on Thursday that the border incidents between India and China will continue to occur till a boundary agreement is reached between the two countries.

Talking about the situation in Afghanistan, he revealed that the recent developments “have definitely been the focus” of the Indian Army as it continues to evaluate threat perceptions and formulate strategies accordingly, news agency PTI reported.

Army Chief General MM Naravane was addressing a gathering at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry when he made the remarks about India-China border tensions.

He said, “... 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”.

“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, as quoted by PTI. 

In reference to Afghanistan, the Army chief said the Indian Army “or the armed forces for that matter continue to carry out periodic evaluation of threat perceptions”.

Based on those evaluations, the Indian Army formulates strategies and doctrines that are needed to meet future threats, he stated during the annual session meeting of the industry body.

“This is a continuous process that never stops,” he added.

Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15. Following the unexpected rapid takeover, India has time and again expressed its concerns. India had on September 20 had said the country's territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts.

As far as the terrorist threat is concerned, the Indian Army is ready to meet all challenges, Naravane assured.

“We have a very dynamic counterinsurgency and counterterrorist grid in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dynamic grid and it is based on threat perception and the escalating levels of attempts by our western neighbour (Pakistan) to push in more and more terrorists,” he said, as quoted by PTI.

Based on ups and downs, we also recalibrate our levels of operations, he added.

The current border standoff between the Indian and Chinese armies erupted in May last year after a violent clash in the Pangong lake area. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers along with heavy weaponry.

The tensions between both sides escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 last year. Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the violent faceoff that marked the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in decades.

In February 2021, China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes with the Indian Army while it is widely believed that the death toll was higher.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in the Gogra area last month.

In February, the two sides had completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the north and south banks of the Pangong lake following the agreement on disengagement.

As per PTI, each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in the sensitive sector.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, India fiercely contests the same.

(With Agency Inputs)