NEW DELHI: Amidst the prevailing tensions along the Line of Actual Control with China there has been an increase of troops on the Chinese side in the Eastern Sector, said the Chief of Army Staff General (Gen) Manoj Pande on Thursday.
There has been a build-up of infrastructure towards the LAC and the Indian Army is prepared to deal with any situation, General Pande added.
Addressing the media persons on the occasion of the Annual Army press conference, Gen Pande said, “There is a slight increase in the number of troops on the adversary side in the eastern sector. We are constantly monitoring the developments there.”
"The situation is stable and under control, yet unpredictable. You are aware of the ongoing talks where we have been able to resolve five out of seven issues that were on the table and we are continuing to talk both at the diplomatic as well as the military level," he said.
"In terms of our preparedness level, they remain of a very high standard. We have adequate forces, we have adequate reserves in each of our sectors to be able to effectively deal with any situation or contingency," he added.
Keeping the troop accretion on the Chinese side in May 2020 Indian Army began reorientation of its forces as per the threat assessment. The Army Chief said the "strategic rebalancing" of the troops that was undertaken some time ago has been completed.
"We have been able to maintain a very robust defensive posture and prevent any attempts from our adversary to unilaterally change the status quo in a firm and resolute manner," Gen Pande said.
It was in May 2020, as first reported by TNIE, the Chinese forces had moved in standoff mode which led to mirror deployment by the Indian Army. While there had been disengagements at five of the seven standoff points, the situation turned tense again in December as the Chinese troops clashed with the Indian Army soldiers.
Gen Pande said the Army has decided that 2023 will be the year of transformation and the force has laid out a specific roadmap aiming for certain outcomes that can be achieved. "This process will continue beyond the current year."
On the question of the Russian invasion of Ukraine adding new complexities to India's security challenges along the LAC as it could embolden China to take an aggressive posturing, he said a detailed analysis was carried out at operational, strategic and tactical levels.
"We have to contextualise these lessons. We have incorporated them in terms of larger weapons platforms, cyberspace," he said.
On the impact of the Ukraine conflict, the Chief of Army Staff said that there has been an impact on supplies but his force would overcome the challenge.
Thrust on Road and Habitat infrastructure
Purely in terms of border roads, because it is extremely critical, in the last five years the BRO has constructed close to 6000 km of roads pan-India out of which 2100 km has been along the northern borders. “The second aspect is the upgradation of bridges. It's not only roads but you also need bridges to carry your guns, 7450m length of bridges constructed.” the Chief said.
Talking about the Eastern Sector, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, General Pande said the frontier road which is 1800 km will connect various valleys in Arunachal Pradesh. The plan has been re-energised and funding has been assigned. Some work on it is already underway.
There is also better all-weather connectivity to the Tawang or Kameng sector. Sela tunnel is likely to get operational by the middle of the year and one further South at Nechiphu near Bomdila.
Work on all-weather connectivity of the areas in Ladakh and Arunachal is underway.
So there are plans not only for all-weather connectivity to Ladakh and Arunachal but also alternate connectivity, the Army Chief said.
There is the aspect of all-weather connectivity to both Ladakh and Kameng in Arunachal. In Ladakh, there is the Zojila tunnel as well as the Z-Morh tunnel which will link the valley to Ladakh. That will be operationalised by the end of the year. We will have all-weather connectivity from that side.
Connectivity to Leh from the other side, the Atal tunnel is well known but there is also the Shinku la tunnel along Nemu-Padam-Darcha connecting Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh is in the final stages of approval. “Once this happens, there will be all-weather connectivity from both sides to Ladakh.” It is connected with Srinagar.
In addition, there is also a plan for alternate connectivity to the all-important to DS-DBO road through Saser la.
In the context of habitats, especially Eastern Ladakh we have close to 55,000 troops for whom habitat has been completed. There has also been heated accommodation for 400 odd guns and 500 A-vehicles which are tanks and infantry vehicles.
Overall, 1300 crore has been spent in the last three years focussing on infrastructure and habitat in Ladakh. Then there are aspects of locally made Solar Heated Insulated Ladakhi shelters (SHILA), and we are looking at more green solutions like fuel cells to meet energy requirements.
In terms of infrastructure on our side, there has been a marked improvement.