New Delhi: The new Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande in an interaction with media-persons May 9 said, “The basic issue remains the resolution of the border. What we see is that China’s intent has been to keep the boundary issue alive.”

He was responding to a question about the current situation at the border and intention of China. He

added, “What we need as a country is a ‘Whole of nation’ approach and in the military domain, this is to prevent and counter any attempt to alter the status quo at the LAC.”

“Our guidance to the troops is to be firm and resolute and to make sure there is no attempt to change the status quo,” he asserted.

He stated that the aim of the Indian Army is to establish status quo ante prior to the 2020 incident and also to re-establish trust and tranquillity in that region. However, according to Gen Pande, it cannot be a one way affair. “Efforts need to be made from both sides.” In the last couple of years, according to the Indian Army Chief, a decision has been taken to re-orient and re-balance the situation in Eastern Ladakh.

According to the chief, the Indian Army is focusing to upgrade Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the LAC and to also build infrastructure which will help to support operation and logistics. The Indian troops have been taking certain action to have robust posture along LAC and are carrying out re-appraisal and re-assessment.

The standoff between the two forces has been going on for almost 2 years now, “Adequate forces are available to deal with all types of contingencies,” he said.

As part of the ongoing process of capability development at the entire northern border, Gen Pande said that new technologies are being inducted.

At the end of 15 rounds of talks at the military and diplomatic level, it resulted in disengagement in North and South of Pangong Tso, Gogra and PP 14 (Galwan valley). A resolution can be found through dialogue — military and diplomatic, he added.