NEW DELHI: Amid fresh inputs on the Chinese Army strengthening its deployment on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso lake, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the Indian armed forces are well placed to handle the aggression in “best suitable ways”.
“Of late, India has been seeing some aggressive actions by China but we are capable of handling these in the best suitable ways,” Gen Rawat said while speaking at the third annual leadership summit of the US-India strategic partnership forum.
The day also saw Army Chief General M M Naravane visiting Ladakh to review operational preparedness in the region. He was briefed by the Army Commander of the Northern Command and the Corps Commander of the formation that is dealing with the stand-off in east Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control.
He also visited forward positions.
The Army Chief’s visit came a day after Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria flew to the Eastern Air Command, which is tasked with defending India’s east, including the northern borders of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The Air Chief, too, visited frontline air bases.
As for the situation on the ground at the recent pressure points in Ladakh, a senior officer said, “We have observed that Chinese Army is beefing up its deployments in the Chushul Sector.” They are accompanied by armoured, artillery and engineers too, he added.
This happened immediately after the Indian Army’s tactical rearrangement of its deployments on the heights in the Chushul Sector and repositioning its troops on ridges around Finger 4 in the north bank of Pangong Tso on August 30.
The redeployments have enabled the Army to have a deeper visual observation of the activity in Chushul on the Chinese side from its side of the LAC.
Amid the heightened activity, India and Russia finalised a major deal to manufacture AK-47 203 rifles in India during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s ongoing visit to Moscow.
Rawat on Thursday also warned Pakistan against trying to take advantage of India's border row with China in eastern Ladakh, saying Islamabad could suffer "heavy losses" for any "misadventure".
In an interactive session at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Gen Rawat said also spoke about security implications of China's economic assistance to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as well as its overall military, economic and diplomatic support to Islamabad.
The Chief of Defence Staff said Pakistan could take advantage of India's border row with China, and it may create some trouble for New Delhi, adding a strategy has already been devised to deal with such a scenario.
"If any threat develops around our northern borders, Pakistan could take advantage of that and create some trouble for us," he said.
"Therefore, we have taken adequate precaution to ensure that any such misadventure by Pakistan is sorted and they are not able to succeed in their mission. In fact, they may suffer heavy losses should they attempt any misadventure," Gen Rawat said.
He said Pakistan has been engaged in a proxy war against India and pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir, adding Pakistan attempted to spread terrorism in other parts of India as well.
Talking about India's overall security challenges, the Chief of Defence Staff said the country faces the most "complex threats and challenges" spanning the full spectrum of conflict from "nuclear to sub-conventional".
"The proxy war unleashed by Pakistan blocked India's efforts at regional integration besides fomenting terrorism against India and exploiting our diverse faultlines ," he said.
India has been adopting a tough approach in dealing with cross border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
India's warplanes pounded a terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan in February last year days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gen Rawat said China's economic cooperation with Pakistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir along with its continued military, economic and diplomatic support requires high levels of "preparations" by India.
"At the same time it poses the threat of coordinated action along the northern and western fronts which we have to consider in our defence planning," he said.
To a question on how the armed forces are dealing with coronavirus, Gen Rawat said none of the military personnel who are deployed on the frontline, flying aircraft and deployed at at sea are affected by the pandemic.
(With PTI Inputs)