Situation along LAC stable but not normal: Army chief on east Ladakh standoff

The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh is stable but not normal, Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday (October 1) amid the dragging military standoff between China and India in the region.

Though a “positive signalling” is coming out from the diplomatic talks between the two sides on resolution of the row, the execution of any plan depends on the military commanders on the ground, Gen Dwivedi said. He was speaking at a curtain raiser event on the Chanakya Defence Dialogue.

India and China held two rounds of diplomatic talks in July and August with an aim to find early resolution of outstanding issues in their standoff on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

Also Read: India, China agree to resolve border issues in eastern Ladakh

Restoring pre-April 2020 situation

“The positive signalling is coming from the diplomatic side, but what we need to understand (is that) the diplomatic side gives options and possibilities,” he said. “But when it comes to the execution on ground, when it relates to ground per se; it is dependent on the military commanders on both sides to take those decisions,” the Army Chief said, responding to a question.

“The situation is stable, but it is not normal and it's sensitive. If that be the case what are we wanting? We want the situation to be restored to what it was before April 2020, whether in terms of the ground occupation situation or the buffer zones which have been created or patrolling which have been kind of planned as of now,” he said. He added that until this restoration is achieved, the situation will continue to be sensitive.

The military standoff between the two sides began in early May of 2020. Full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

‘Ready to face any contingency’

“Till the time the situation is not restored, as far as we are concerned, the situation will remain sensitive, and we are fully operationally prepared to face any kind of a contingency,” the Army Chief said.

In the complete gamut, the trust between Indian and Chinese forces at the LAC has become the “biggest casualty”, he said.

Gen Dwivedi also briefly touched upon the Indian military's overall approach towards China. “As far as China is concerned, it has been intriguing our minds for quite some time. And I have been saying that with China, you have to compete, you have to cooperate, you have to coexist, you have to confront and contest,” he said.

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Construction of villages along LAC

General Dwivedi also spoke about China constructing villages along the LAC. “They are carrying out this artificial immigration, settlement. No problem, it's their country, they can do whatever they want. But what we see in the South China Sea. When we talk about the grey zone, initially we find fishermen and those kinds of people who are at the forefront. And to save them, then you find the military moving in...”

“As far as the Indian Army is concerned, we have already been having this kind of model village... But more importantly, now the state governments have been empowered to put in those resources and this is the time when the army, state governments and supervision by the central government are all coming together. So the model villages that are being built now will be even better,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Aiming complete disengagement

Last month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in the Russian city of St Petersburg with a focus on finding an early resolution to the row.

In the talks held on the sidelines of a conclave of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations, the two sides agreed to work with “urgency” and “redouble” efforts to achieve complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.

In the meeting, NSA Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for the LAC are essential for return of normalcy in bilateral ties.

Also Read: Eastern Ladakh border row: India, China hold military talks, agree to maintain 'peace and tranquillity

Bilateral ties take a hit after Galwan

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar last week described India's diplomatic ties with China as “very significantly disturbed”.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff.

India has been pressing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas. The two sides held the last round of high-level military talks in February.

(With agency inputs)