Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said on Thursday the threat to India has only “abated” following the disengagement in Pangong lake areas in eastern Ladakh after the agreement with China but it has not gone away altogether.
He also asserted that it would be incorrect to say that the Chinese troops were still sitting on territories in eastern Ladakh that were in India’s control before the face-off erupted in May last year.
Gen Naravane told an interactive session at the India Economic Conclave that the military strength in rear areas remained what it was even at the height of border tensions.
The Army Chief replied in the affirmative when asked by the moderator whether he concurs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks after the border standoff that the Chinese have not come into control of Indian territory.
“Yes, absolutely,” he said.
He also said that patrolling has not resumed in the region as tensions are still running high and there are always chances of face-offs and inadvertent escalation of the situation when it starts.
“There are some areas which we still have to negotiate but in the overall scheme of things, (I) feel that we have very strong grounds to believe that we will be able to achieve all our aims,” Gen Naravane said.
When asked specifically whether the Chinese were still sitting on territories that were in India’s control before April 2020, he said: “No, that will be an incorrect statement.”
“There are areas which are under nobody’s control. So where we were controlling we were in those areas and where they were controlling, they were in those areas,” he said.
“The whole issue of Line of Actual Control (LAC) is because of these grey areas. Because there is no demarcated LAC and there are different claims and perceptions. So unless the LAC is demarcated, you cannot make the statement that I am where I am, he is where he is,” he added.
“They (the Army personnel) have done their job….In the Army you learn to be thick-skinned,” he said, when asked about some criticism of handling of the border situation.
Gen Naravane said unless the troops in rear bases go back, it would not be possible to say that things are back to normal.
“After several rounds of talks, we succeeded in getting some agreement on the disengagement of troops which were face-to-face with each other which could have led to some misunderstandings and flare ups,” he said.
“Now they are not face-to-face but have disengaged and gone back to the agreed positions. But the strength in rear areas remains what it was even at the height of the tension. So the threat has only abated and it has not gone away altogether,” he said.
On patrolling, he said the view has been that there is a need to go step by step.
Replying to a question on developments in Depsang and some other friction points, the Army Chief said these are the issues that will be discussed in future rounds of talks. “The guiding principles still remain that we need to restore the traditional rights and that would apply to both sides, after all it is not as if only they were doing the patrolling,” he said.