NEW DELHI: The chief of the Northern Army Command is camping in Leh to review the situation amid growing tensions with China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
Sources said Lt Gen YK Joshi, Commander of the Udhampur-based Northern Command, will be camping in Leh till Thursday. He was scheduled to reach Leh on Tuesday but was unable to do so. The visit comes ahead of the talks between the senior level officers of the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army to resolve the ongoing standoff.
Lt Gen Joshi was earlier heading the 14 Corps, the Army division that looks after Ladakh and now engaged with the PLA soldiers at the standoff points. His visit to Leh assumes significance keeping in mind his understanding of the area and knowledge on LAC.
Indian Army and China's People's Liberation Army held several meetings to resolve the face-off. However, no breakthrough has taken place. The Major General level commanders from Indian and Chinese sides had met at the LAC in Ladakh on June 2 in a bid to defuse tension along the border.
The soldiers of India and China are in a month-long faceoff position in Ladakh which was first reported by this paper. The Chinese soldiers are said to have reached the positions claimed by India.
In the meantime, China has sent a large number of troops to the LAC as reinforcements. Seeing this, Indian Army has also deployed forces accordingly.
There are four places where there is an eyeball-to-eyeball situation since May 5 along LAC. Both sides have deployed over 1,000 troops and sending reinforcements.