Army chief, top military brass to review deployment along China, Pak borders

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Army Chief General M.M. Naravane, Vice Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Pande and other top military commanders reached the headquarters of the Central Command in Lucknow on Wednesday to review deployments of troops in the Western and Northern borders.

The military top brass will discuss the force preparedness at the Line of Actual Control with China and Line of Control with Pakistan. They will be there for three days and hold deliberations over various military issues amid changing geopolitical turmoil.

India and China have been engaged in a border dispute for around almost two years and talks are on to resolve the matter. Even as talks with China are on, the People's Liberation Army deployment has been intact. India too has dug in and made a mirror deployment of troops.

With the onset of summer, the Indian Army reviews the deployments of the troops at the Line of Actual Control.

Last week, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Delhi and discussed bilateral relations "that have been disturbed as a result of the Chinese actions in April 2020".

Jaishankar had said the current situation of disengaging the disputed borders is happening at a "slower pace than desirable".

He also stated the relationship with China is "not normal. Our effort today is to sort out the issue in its entirety," he said.

China's People's Liberation Army made an aggressive move at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh in April 2020 leading to the border dispute between India and China. It has been two years and the border dispute is still not resolved.

Earlier, this month India and China discussed resolving the existing border dispute along the Line of Actual Control during the 15th round of Corp commander level talks but nothing moved in the meeting.

The joint statement issued by the Ministry of Defence in India had stated that the 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on March 11, 2022.

The two sides carried forward their discussions from the previous round held on 12th January 2022 for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector.

"They had a detailed exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," said the statement.

They reaffirmed that such a resolution would help restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector and facilitate progress in the bilateral relations.

Fourteen rounds of talks till now have resulted in the resolution of the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas.