Army will deal with PLA in firm, resolute manner-General Narvane

Army chief General MM Naravane on Wednesday said that despite partial disengagement along the Line of Actual (LAC) in Ladakh, the Chinese threat persists in the region. He said the Indian Army would deal with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a firm and resolute manner. General Naravane said this while addressing the annual Army Day virtual press conference in Delhi.  He said that India and China have been working on "mutual disengagement" and there have been positive developments, but the "threat" is very much high.

General Naravane said the Indian Army had enhanced force levels in the areas where the military standoff began in 2020 and continued into 2022. There have been positive developments along our northern and western borders since January last year, he said.  Army has reorganised and rebalanced forces to meet the threat from both China and Pakistan, he said. Reorientation of additional forces to the northern borders has been carried out, while retaining our punitive strike capability, along the western front," he said. On the Nagaland firing incident, Indian Army chief General Naravane said appropriate action would be taken and further corrections made in standard operating procedures (SOPs) after the completion of inquiry. He said the situation in the Northeast was under control and that several army battalions were de-inducted even as there was a plan to increase Assam Rifles battalions along the Indo-Myanmar border.

Speaking on China's new border law, he asserted: “Any law, which is not binding on other countries and which is not legally tenable and is not in keeping with the agreements that we have had in the past, obviously can't be binding on us.” He said that about 5,300 Indian Army personnel are currently deployed in eight UN peace mission, On Pakistan’s front, he said, “There is an increase in the concentration of terrorists in various launch pads and there have been repeated attempts of infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC). This once exposes the nefarious designs of our western neighbour.”