New Delhi: Even as the confrontation along the Sino-Indian border continues, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat told a parliamentary committee that the country’s armed forces were prepared to deal with any eventualities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, and were ready for a long haul even during the harsh winter months.
Gen Rawat made the remarks when he, along with top commanders of the Army, appeared before the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on August 10 on the issue of procurement of high-altitude clothing for the armed forces, Committee sources said.
During the interaction, several PAC members sought to know from Gen Rawat about the standoff in eastern Ladakh region to which the CDS responded that the armed forces are prepared for any eventualities, the sources said.
Gen Rawat appeared confident and clearly conveyed to the panel that the armed forces were prepared for a long haul in the region, they said.
The PAC is headed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
At the latest round of military talks, the Indian side insisted forcefully on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the two armies in Pangong Tso.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has pulled back from Galwan Valley and certain other friction points but the withdrawal of its troops have not moved forward from the Finger areas in Pangong Tso, Gogra and Depsang as demanded by India, according to sources.
The formal process of disengagement of troops began on July 6, a day after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on ways to bring down tensions in the area.
Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane has already conveyed to all senior commanders of the Army, overseeing the operation of the frontline formations along the LAC, to maintain a significantly high state of alertness to deal with any Chinese “misadventure”, they said.
The Indian Army has already made elaborate plans to maintain the current strength of troops and weapons along the LAC during the harsh winter months in eastern Ladakh and all other sensitive areas along the LAC.
It is also in the process of procuring a number of weapons, ammunition and winter gears for the frontline troops. The temperature in some of the high-altitude areas along the LAC drops to minus 25-degree Celsius in the winter months.
