Army chief General Naravane visits Ladakh amid mounting tensions with China along LAC

Amid mounting tensions at border with Chinese army, Indian Army chief visited Ladakh, sources said, however he did t visit forward locations. Indian Army has increased its troops in Ladakh in past week after reports came in about an increase of Chinese troops along Indo-China border. Tensions along Line of Actual Control (LAC) started after Chinese helicopters were spotted flying close to un-demarcated border between India and China in Eastern Ladakh on May 12. Prior to incident, 250 soldiers of both sides were engd in a fierce face-off near Pangong Lake in area, news ncy PTI reported quoting official sources. army chief had also visited Easter and South-Western Command after  incidents.

Army chief's visit

Army chief General M M Naravane visited Ladakh on Friday to review operational situation, as per sources. He had a day earlier asserted that Army is 'deeply committed to ensuring India’s security and sovereignty'. Last week, in interaction with news ncy ANI, he had said that re is 'thing new' about skirmishes that have taken place along LAC, assuring that  situation is being dealt as per protocols laid down between two countries and in accordance with strategic guidelines.

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Chinese military helicopters

Chinese military helicopters were seen flying close to Line of Actual Control on at least a couple of occasions following clashes after which a fleet of Su-30 fighters of Indian Air Force too carried out sorties in area, sources said. re was official word on wher Su-30 jets were rushed in to carry out sorties in wake of face-off and aggressive Chinese posturing in area. sources said Chinese military helicopters routinely carry out sorties on Chinese side of border while Indian Army helicopters also fly in area.

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Face-off between China and India last week 

In face-off on May 5, scores of Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed along rrn bank of Pangong Lake and even resorted to stone-pelting. A number of soldiers on both sides sustained injuries. It was first case of troops from two sides exchanging blows after a similar incident around Pangong Lake in August 2017.

In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engd in a face-off near Naku La Pass in Sikkim sector of Si-India border on Saturday. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries in incident. troops of India and China were engd in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between two nuclear-armed neighbours.

India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, de-facto border between two countries. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of sourn Tibet while India contests it. Both sides have been asserting that pending final resolution of boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas. 

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