LAC: No intrusions in Eastern Command, says Lt Gen Chauhan

Kolkata, December 16

Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Anil Chauhan on Wednesday said there had been no intrusions or major face-offs in the area of responsibility of the Eastern Command since the Ladakh standoff between Indian troops and China’s PLA.

He said post the Galwan valley incident, bonhomie and mutual trust on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China evaporated and it would take time for things to stabilise and rebuild.

“There have been no intrusions or major face-offs in the area of responsibility of Eastern Command since the friction erupted in Ladakh,” he said.

Lt Gen Chauhan, General-Officer-Commanding, Eastern Command, said the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China had undertaken some precautionary deployment during the Ladakh crisis, which is now witnessing a gradual de-induction in the eastern sector, due to the onset of winter.

“However, the Indian Army is fully prepared to beat any challenge during winter,” he said at the Fort William here on the occasion of Vijay Diwas.

He said the PLA carried out rapid infrastructure development activities of roads and tracks, and of defences along the Sikkim border and in Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh.

“We are taking reciprocal actions and prepared to meet emerging challenges... They have tried to develop some kind of model villages next to the border areas, where they are looking to settle nomadic Tibetan population,” Lt Gen Chauhan said. — PTI