The situation along India’s borders with China is under control, Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said on Saturday in Dehradun. Naravane said that the ongoing series of high delegation-level talks with the Chinese side has been followed up with meetings at the local level between the commanders of equivalent ranks.
Chief Naravane said that through the continued dialogue, it is hoped that all perceived differences between India and China will be set to rest. “We are hopeful that through the continued dialogue we’re having, all perceived differences that we (India and China) have will be set to rest. Everything is under control,” he said.
Talking about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, chief Naravane said that in last 10-15 days
alone, more than 15 terrorists have been killed. “All of this has been because of very close cooperation and coordination between all security forces operating in J&K,” he said. “Most of the operations have been based on information provided by the locals themselves which goes to show that they are also absolutely fed up with militancy and terrorism and they want that the situation should return to normal,” the army chief added. General Naravane’s comments came while he speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Passing Out Parade (POP) of Indian Military Academy (IMA) Dehradun. This comes a day after Indian and Chinese army delegations, led by major general-ranked officers, on Friday held discussions in eastern Ladakh again to resolve the standoff between border troops. This was the fifth round of meeting between the two major generals to break the stalemate that began with a violent confrontation between rival patrols near Pangong Tso on the night of May 5-6. Friday’s meeting between major general Abhijit Bapat, commander of the Karu-based HQs 3 Infantry Division, and his Chinese counterpart went on for nearly five hours, said an officer. Besides this, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed India’s military preparedness in eastern Ladakh and several other sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Singh was briefed by Army chief Naravane at a high-level meeting which also saw Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria in attendance. Naravane gave a detailed account of the overall situation in eastern Ladakh. Indian and Chinese military officials are engaged in high delegation-level talks in a bid to resolve the month-long row over the Line of Actual Control. The armies from the two sides are locked in an over five-week standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
