Situation stable but not normal: Army Chief on eastern Ladakh standoff

New Delhi, Oct 1: The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh is stable but not normal and remains sensitive, Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday amid the dragging standoff between Indian and Chinese militaries in the region.

Though a "positive signalling" is coming out from the diplomatic talks between the two sides, the execution of any plan depends on the military commanders on the ground, he said.

In the entire gamut, the "trust" has become the "biggest casualty", Gen Dwivedi said at a curtain raiser event on Chanakya Defence Dialogue.

"The situation is stable, but it is not normal and it's sensitive. If that be the case what are we wanting. We are wanting that the situation that was there pre April 2020 should be restored," he added.

The military standoff between the two sides began in early May of 2020.

The full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

"Till the time the situation is not restored, as far as we are concerned, the situation will remain sensitive, and we are fully operationally prepared to face any kind of a contingency," the Army Chief said.

He listed several pending issues such as troops on ground, buffer zones along the LAC and resumption of patrolling by troops as planned.

Gen Dwivedi also briefly touched upon the Indian military's overall approach towards China.

"As far as China is concerned, it has been intriguing our minds for quite some time. And I have been saying that with China, you have to compete, you have to cooperate, you have to coexist, you have to confront and contest," he said.

India and China held two rounds of diplomatic talks in July and August with an aim to find early resolution of outstanding issues in their standoff on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

"The positive signalling is coming from the diplomatic side, but what we need to understand (is that) the diplomatic side gives options and possibilities," Gen Dwivedi said.

"But when it comes to the execution on ground, when it relates to ground per se; it is dependent on the military commanders on both sides to take those decisions," he said, responding to a question.

The Chief of the Army Staff also referred to disputes in Depsang and Demchok and said all the pending issues are on the table.

"Whatever one can imagine is on the table along the northern front and that includes Depsang and Demchok," he said.

Asked about China's construction of villages along the frontier with India, the Army Chief said that country is carrying out "artificial immigration" and "settlements".

"No problem, it is their country," he said, adding India is also having "model villages" in border areas.

"But more importantly, now the state governments have been empowered to put in those resources and this is the time when the army, state governments and supervision by the central government are all coming together," he said.

The model villages that are being built now will be even better, the Army Chief said.

He said there is no Chinese population close to the LAC and that is the reason Beijing is carrying out the "artificial immigration".

The Army Chief also cited how the Chinese fishermen first came to the South China Sea and then the military arrived.

Last month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in the Russian city of St Petersburg with a focus on finding an early resolution to the row.

In the talks held on the sidelines of a conclave of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations, the two sides agreed to work with "urgency" and "redouble" efforts to achieve complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.

In the meeting, NSA Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquility in border areas and respect for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are essential for return of normalcy in bilateral ties.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff.

India has been pressing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas.

The two sides held the last round of high-level military talks in February.