LAC situation stable but unpredictable: Army Chief

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 12

Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Thursday said the security situation along the northern borders (with China) was stable but remained unpredictable.

Addressing a press conference ahead of Army Day (Jan 15), the Army Chief said: “We have resolved five of the seven friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.” The pending friction points are at Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh, sources said. General Pande praised the troops on the ground for being able to maintain a “robust defensive posture” to prevent the adversary from changing the status quo along the LAC, the de facto boundary with China.

On China’s aggression, the Army Chief said there was a slight increase in the number of troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) facing the Eastern Command. “Their (Chinese) troops which came for training have remained,” the General said, adding that “we have adequate deployment and we have the reserves to meet any challenge.” The Army has decided to go in for transformation in five key domains. These include force re-structuring and optimisation; modernisation and technology infusion; manpower management like Agnipath; jointness with other forces; and refining own systems and processes.

General Pande said 2023 would be the year of transformation and the force had laid out a specific roadmap aiming for certain outcomes that could be achieved. “This process will continue beyond the current year.”

On modernisation, General Pande said: “As of now, 45 per cent of our equipment is vintage, 41 per cent is of current technology and some 12 to 15 per cent is state-of-the-art. “By 2030, we aim to have 45 per cent equipment in the state-of-the-art category and 35 per cent of current technology.” On queries about any impact on military movement due to the Joshimath subsidence, he said: “Operational readiness is not impacted.”

“Some 25 military buildings have minor cracks following which some troops have been relocated temporarily. If needed, we will move to Auli.” The Army has a Brigade headquartered at Joshimath. “There is a marked improvement in infrastructure in our side,” the Army Chief said while mentioning that the tunnel under the Zojila would be operational by the end of the year to ensure round the year connectivity with Ladakh.

The alternative axis to Ladakh is being developed via Shinko La.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the tunnel under the Sela would be completed this year. In the last two years, infrastructure has been added to house some 35,000 troops in eastern Ladakh and a “covered facility” has been created for 400 guns. He also said women officers would be commissioned to the Regiment of Artillery. On being asked about the pending AK203 rifles, General Pande said the first lot of 5,000 was expected by March this year. The Army is looking at some 6 lakh AK203 rifles.

The Army Chief said in J&K there were 12 infiltration attempts and 18 terrorists were shot dead last year. “Terrorist are now focusing south of the Pir Panjal mountain range and targeting the areas along the international boundary and even Punjab.”

Asked whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine added new complexities to India’s security challenges along the LAC as it could embolden China to take an aggressive posturing, he said a detailed analysis was carried out at operational, strategic and tactical levels.

“We have to contextualise these lessons. We have incorporated them in terms of larger weapons platform, cyberspace,” he said.

To a question on the impact of the Ukraine conflict, the Army Chief said there had been an impact on supplies but his force would overcome the challenge.

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