KD NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, Mar 27: In the backdrop of the nearly four-year border row with China in eastern Ladakh, Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Wednesday said the Indian Army’s preparedness levels are of a “very high order” and the force is keeping a “very close watch” on developments across the border.
In response to questions asked during a panel discussion at Times Now Summit here, General Pande also said he believed that it was “only through talks” that one can find resolution of the balance issues that are currently at hand.
The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.
In terms of preventing collateral damage to non-military or civilian population, in terms of ensuring their own protection, “I would believe they have done an excellent job”, he said.
On the challenges there, General Pande said one is the aspect of weapons which are still available at large.
There is still fairly a large number of weapons that is still available and that is a “cause of concern”, he added.
Also, the issue of activities happening across the Indo-Myanmar border and with these kinds of weapons available that remains a challenge, the Army chief said.
The situation in Manipur transcends the law and order situation or of land domain, General Pande said.
“We will have to come up with a very comprehensive and a detailed framework to be able to find an answer to the ongoing issues there. We have a large ex-servicemen community. So, we have asked them to engage with people. Our units are helping internally displaced people in various relief camps,” he said.
General Pande in his opening remarks said that he saw the Indian Army as “a key contributor and a stakeholder” in the nation’s rise.
“I believe the nation’s security and progress are inextricably linked. While the economic progress is the fountainhead of growth, it is the military strength that lends it the capability to be able to address ongoing as well as future security challenges. The army’s commitment to India’s growth story is absolutely unwavering,” he said. (Agencies)
