Army on Sunday said that it was carrying out a large number of “changes and modifications” to keep at bay the attempts by militants to carry out to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against the forces.
“IEDs is only a method by which the (militants) carry outdestruction of the security forces or of the government agencies, otherwisethey have to come face to face in combat with the security forces. So when theywant to carry out stand-off attacks, they like to put an IED and escape fromthere, so this is one of the methods’,” General Officer Commanding-in-Chief(GOC-in-C) northern command Ranbir Singh told reporters on the sidelines of afunction in connection with Kargil war anniversary.
He continued: “But as far as our strategy is concernedwhichever method the (militants) use, our operations are aimed at neutralisingall types of (militants). So our operations are continuing relentlessly basedon the information we keep on receiving.”
At the same time, he said Army was carrying out a largenumber of other “changes and modifications” which include bringing in certainnew counter IED equipments and training troops. “We also have bomb disposalsquads, we have dogs trained to be able to detect IEDs and large number ofother measures.”
He said all “gaps along the LoC have been plugged and theIndian Army is fully trained and equipped to take on any challenge, anycontingency that may arise.”
“I also want to take this opportunity to articulate veryclearly that should whenever there is a misadventure by the adversary to causeany action which is wrong as perceived by us along the LoC, they will always begiven a befitting response, a lesson which they shall always remember for thetimes to come,” he said.
Asked regarding delays in Zojila Pass and construction oftunnel and when its completion was expected, the Lt General Singh said: “Theinauguration of the tunnel was carried out by the Prime Minister last year. Thework has commenced and there are some challenges out there. And wherever thereare challenges we will be able to find solutions to that, but it is satisfyingthat even ZoJiLa sometimes is closed, we have an alternate access coming fromLohtang, access which reaches Ladakh and from Leh we can carry out the movementto this side,” he said.
He continued: “But the aim is that we should be able to haveZojila pass road functional as early as possible.”Asked about reasons for not clearing much of theterritories allegedly encroached upon by China, he said: “As far as thesituation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is concerned, weare maintaining peace and tranquility. There are some transgressions which takeplace at times but we have very well established mechanisms for confidencebuilding. We are able to resolve those differences by sitting with the Chineseand we are able to discuss with Chinese army.” Overall, he said, the situationcontinues to be peace and tranquil along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).