Situation along China border peaceful, says Army

In the backdrop of rising incursions by Chinese troops in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army on Saturday maintained that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was “absolutely peaceful and calm, and such incidents happen due to differences in perception”.

“There are no problems as the situation on the China border is absolutely peaceful and calm. There has been no incident of firing at the LAC,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Northern Command, Lieutenant General D S Hooda told reporters in Drass, where the Army is celebrating “Vijay Divas” on the 15th anniversary of the Kargil war.

He said there were some areas where there was a difference of perception on the alignment of the LAC. “There is no demarcation of the LAC on land, and in such areas, both Indian and Chinese soldiers do patrolling,” he said.

Maintaining that there was no real concern over the transgressions by China’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the GOC Northern Command said, “Even our presence has slightly increased in various areas. So, sometimes it is also because of that that you are actually seeing more of what is happening. There is greater visibility also from our side on what they are doing.”

The senior army commander ruled out any immediate threat to India due to the presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “There are some media reports that there are Chinese troops in PoK, but mostly they are engaged in developmental activities. We are not getting anything that is close to the LoC or poses an immediate threat,” he said.

On the possibility of terror spill-over from Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Hooda said, “There could be a spill-over. It is not as if nobody is talking about it. You are getting the statements from the HuM (Hizb-ul-Mujahideen) chief saying that he will take support from the al-Qaeda and Taliban. We have to be prepared for contingencies. That is my job, to look at what sort of contingencies can arrive.

“We are hearing statements from the Taliban side saying Kashmir is the next battleground. Terms like Ghazv-e-Hind are being used. It has not yet manifested itself, but these are things that you have to look at and be prepared,” added the GOC.

On the appearance of ISIS flags in Srinagar during street protests, the GOC said, “Yes, all these things bother us. But we are looking at various contingencies and seeing how we need to deal with them in case they come up to us.”