As the impasse persists at the Line of Actual Control(LAC)in Ladakh, Army Chief General M M Naravane on Wednesday toured forward areas there to review operational preparedness. He also took stock of the ground situation as more than one lakh troops from India and China are in a stand-off for the last nine months.
With several rounds of military and diplomatic level talks so far having failed to end the tension, the Indian army has made preparations for long haul during the winter months. Not willing to take any chances, additional troops trained in mountain warfare are also positioned at strategic locations all along the 1,700 km long LAC in Ladakh sector.
In this backdrop, the Army chief visited forward areas and reviewed the ground situation along the South bank of Pangong Tso where Indian Army had dominated several unoccupied peaks on the Indian side of the LAC in the end of August.
“Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited forward areas of Fire and Fury Corps including Rechin La and undertook a first-hand assessment of the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” the Army said. Naravane also undertook on the spot inspection of the state of habitat of troops on the forward line of defences at Rechin La.
The Army has ensured that enough prefabricated and heated huts are supplied to the forward areas in Ladakh to enable the troops to withstand the harsh winters. Mercury has already dipped to minus ten and will plunge to minus 20 to 25 in the coming weeks.
In addition, sufficient stocks of winter clothing are in the stores at Leh and other key locations to provide comfortable and functional special clothes to the troops.
During the one day visit to the Leh based 14 Corps, Naravane also visited forward base Tara and interacted with the local commanders and troops. He was briefed on the operational situation by the 14 Corps Commander, Lt General PGK Menon.
Incidentally, the Army chief’s visit came days after the sixth round of diplomatic level talks between India and China last week. There was no breakthrough but both the sides agreed to continue dialogue for speedy disengagement of troops from the LAC.
The two delegations also agreed to soon hold the ninth round of Corps Commander level talks between the two armies. The last round was held on November 6. However, those talks also did not yield positive results.
Sources said the Army Chief reached Ladakh at 8:30 am on a day-long visit with an aim to review the ground situation in the region that is experiencing harsh winter.
The army said Naravane interacted with the troops deployed in forward areas and exhorted them to continue working with the same “zeal and enthusiasm”. He also distributed sweets and cakes ahead of Christmas.
Around three-and-half months ago, Indian troops had occupied a number of strategic heights in the Mukhpari, Rechin La and Magar hill areas around the southern bank of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army attempted to intimidate them in the area on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.
“General MM Naravane #COAS undertook on the spot inspection of the state of #habitat of troops on the forward line of defences at #RechinLa. He appreciated the efforts made by the formation to make troops comfortable along the #LAC,” the Army said in another tweet.
The military face-off erupted on May 5 following violent clashes between the Indian army and the PLA in the Pangong lake area. The clashes were followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on May 9.