Won't let any attempt to change status quo along India's border, says Army chief

The Indian Armys message is clear that it will not let any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the countrys borders succeed Army Chief Gen MM Naravane saidIn his address at the Army Day Parade he said last year was extremely challenging for the Army and cited the developments on the northern borders with ChinaArmy Day is observed on January 15 to mark Field Marshall KM Cariappa taking over as the first Indian CommanderinChief of the Indian Army replacing his British predecessor in 1949 Referring to the eastern Ladakh standoff Gen Naravane said that to keep the situation under control the 14th round militarylevel talks were held between India and China recentlyHe said joint efforts at various levels have led to disengagement in many areas which in itself is a constructive step Gen Naravane said that on the basis of mutual and equal security efforts would continue to find a solution to the current situation He asserted that the morale of the soldiers deployed on snowcapped mountains for the countrys security was skyhighOur patience is a sign of our selfconfidence but no one should make the mistake of testing it Gen Naravane said Our message is clear the Indian Army wont let any attempt to unilaterally change status quo along countrys borders to succeed The armies of India and China are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 2020 after a violent clash erupted in the Pangong lake area Both countries have conducted 14 rounds of militarylevel talks to resolve the standoff After May 5 2020 both Indian and Chinese militaries gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponryAs a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks the two sides completed the disengagement process last year in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area However disengagement process is yet to be done in areas of Hot Springs Depsang bulge and Demchok Each side currently has around 50000 to 60000 troops along the Line of Actual Control LAC in the sensitive sector Gen Naravane said that the situation on the LoC Line of Control is better than the previous year but Pakistan is still harbouring terrorists Nearly 300400 terrorists in training camps across the border are waiting to intrude into India he said adding a total of 194 terrorists were killed in counteroperations in the last one year Attempts to smuggle arms across the border through drones continue he mentionedIn the interior areas of Jammu and Kashmir there has been progressive improvement during the last two years he noted Therefore terrorist organisations across the border have been trying to create hurdles on the path of the development and they have increased their attempts the Army chief stated It is a part of their conspiracy to target nonlocals and poor labourers he addedThe security situation in the Northeast has improved significantly in the last one year due to proactive military operations he mentioned Because of these operations most of the terrorist organisations in the Northeast have announced ceasefire he said The reduction in the number of troops to handle the internal security is a sign of improved situation he added Indias Myanmar border is very important in terms of security and Assam Rifles is giving proper attention to it he saidThe Army and Assam Rifles along with the state governments in the Northeast are jointly giving shape to the Act East policy of the central government Gen Naravane noted He said the Indian Army is taking concrete steps to modernise itself so as to face current challenges and future dangers Along with top institutions such as IITs the Army is speedily working on new technologies such as blockchain artificial intelligence quantum computing unmanned systems directed energy weapons and swarm drones he mentioned Gen Naravane said the plan to creating joint theatre commands with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force is moving ahead in a timebound mannerYou will see a lot of related transformational changes in future he added The Army chief also talked about the achievements of Army soldiers in last years Tokyo Olympics He said 16 athletes of the Indian Army took part at last years Olympics and one of them Neeraj Chopra was able to get Indias first gold medal in athletics This winning gold medal is a golden moment in our countrys sports history he mentionedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever