"Prepared To Hold Ground As Long As It Takes": Army Chief On Ladakh Row

Amid border tension with China, Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday said that there has been no decrease in the strength of troops either on the Chinese side or Indian side as far as the friction points are concerned and asserted that issues will be addressed on the basis of mutual and equal security.

"Every year PLA troops come to traditional training areas. With winter and completion of the training period, training areas have been vacated. Fair to assume those troops who were in-depth areas in Tibetan Plateau have gone back and that's the reduction in strength on the plateau," General Naravane said during his annual press conference today, ahead of the Army Day.

"There has been no decrease in strength either on their side (China) or our side as far as the friction points are concerned," he said.

"Talks (between India and China) will be used to address the issues on the basis of mutual and equal security. I am confident that we would be able to resolve the issue," the Army chief added.

General Naravane said that there has been no change in the status quo in Eastern Ladakh and asserted that both sides would be able to reach an agreement, which would result in disengagement and de-escalation.

"As far as the situation in Eastern Ladakh is concerned, the situation is the same as prevailing last year. There has been no change in the status quo. As far as the resolution of the present situation is concerned, we are hoping that based on the principle of mutual and equal security, we would be able to reach an agreement that would result in disengagement and deescalation, disengagement from the friction areas, and once de-escalation has been achieved then an overall de-escalation and a reduction in strength of the troops in the forward areas," he said.

"All along the northern borders, we have remained vigilant. Friction points are there in the central and eastern sectors of the LAC where China has developed infrastructure. We keep monitoring it and factor it in our strategy," he said.

The Army Chief said that there was indeed a requirement of rebalancing towards northern borders and that is what we have put in place now.

"We are prepared to hold our ground as long as it takes to achieve our national goals and objectives. Even though we have more troops at high altitudes, cold injury casualties this year have remained constant in the past. It was 0.13 per cent last year and is 0.15 per cent this year," he said.

General Naravane said that there is increased cooperation between China and Pakistan in both military and non-military sectors.

The two-front threat is something that we should be prepared to deal with, he added.