Army monitoring Chinese activities on Doklam: Defence Ministry report

India and China have reduced their presence on the Doklam plateau post the disengagement in 2017, but the India Army is monitoring Chinese activities in the area and is adequately prepared to respond to any contingency, the Defence Ministry said in a report.

In its annual report 2018-19, the ministry also said thatPakistan should take “credible and irreversible” steps to stopsupporting terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under itscontrol and dismantle infrastructure operated by them.

   

It said India will continue to take “robust anddecisive” steps to ensure its national security.

Following the disengagement on August 28, 2017, after a72-day standoff at Doklam, Indian and Chinese troops were redeployed away fromtheir respective positions.

This year, the number of Chinese transgressions haveconsiderably reduced, so has the faceoffs, aggressive interactions during suchinstances.

“(But) the Indian Army is continuously monitoringChinese activities in the area and is adequately prepared to respond to anycontingency,” the defence ministry report said.

It noted that the situation along the India-China border hasremained peaceful.

There are a few areas along the border where there arediffering perceptions of the Line of Actual Control. Both sides patrol up totheir respective perceptions of LAC, it added.

The standoff at Charding-Ninglung Nallah (CNN) junction ineastern Ladakh due to construction of a benign track and the constant rasing ofconstruction of a temporary operating base in Arunachal Pradesh by India werethe only two instances where there was a major difference of opinion betweenthe two sides.

“Compared to last year, the number of transgressionsthis year have considerably reduced. Concomitantly, the percentage offaceoffs/aggressive interactions during these transgressions has also reducedthis year.

“Post Wuhan Summit, there has been an increase in thenumber of flag meetings. This may be attributed to intent of resolvingoutstanding issues through discussions at various levels,” the reportsaid.In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi andChinese President Xi Jinping had an “informal” summit meeting incentral China’s Wuhan city where they decided that peace and tranquillity willbe maintained at the border.

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