Army chief reaches Ladakh to assess LAC situation

Arun Joshi
Jammu, June 23

Army chief Gen MM Naravane reached Leh on Tuesday on his two-day visit to Ladakh to assess the ground situation close to the LAC between Indian and Chinese troops that the world sees as a new flashpoint in the region between two nuclear-powered nations, especially after a violent clash at Galwan Valley on June 15.

The brutal clash in Galwan Valley surrounded by the barren mountains and jagged peaks had left 20 Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, dead. The incident for which India and China blamed each other took place at the LAC after a gap of more than four decades.

Also read: China dismisses questions on its casualties in Galwan Valley clash

This is Gen Naravane’s first visit to Ladakh in recent weeks, especially after the stand-off began in the first week of May.

Gen Naravane’s visit comes at a time when the Indian and Chinese troops have strengthened their positions along the LAC amidst the two rounds of talks at the military commander level. The talks seek reversal of the hostilities on the border that intensified after the June 15 clashes in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.

The army chief, sources said, would take a micro and macro look at the situation and seek real-time information and strategies to be adopted to deal with the situation at the LAC. He would also focus on the strategies that would make China retreat its troops to the positions that they held before April this year.

The face-offs had started in first week of May and they escalated to a bloody clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. That incident put back the progress of the military commander-level talks held on June 6. That position was sought to be retrieved in the June 22 talks in which, sources said, a forward movement seemed to have been achieved, though the details are quite hazy at the moment.

“The army chief’s visit should be seen as a move to boost the morale of the troops and also share the resolve of the country to stand by them,” sources said.

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