Army Chief Naravane in Ladakh, IAF Chief in Northeast as LAC tension heats up

With the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control, the disputed boundary between India and China on the knife-edge in the wake of last week’s Chinese aggression, Indian Army Chief Gen M M Naranave and Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday travelled to the western and eastern sectors of the LAC for the ground assessment of the Chinese threats on the two fronts.

General Naravane not only carried out a comprehensive review of the security situation overseeing the deployment of the troops but also visited the Chushul sector near the southern banks of the Pangong lake where Indian troops occupied the dominating heights pushing the Chinese People's Liberation Army troops on the back-foot.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria, on the other hand, reviewed the border situation from the airbases in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and asked the air warriors to maintain a high level of alertness considering the evolving situation in eastern Ladakh.

The IAF didn’t disclose the airbases that the chief visited. "Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria visited frontline air bases in Eastern Air Command on Sept 2. He was received by respective Air Officers Commanding who apprised him of the readiness state and operational preparedness of the combat units under their command,” an IAF spokesperson said in a statement.

The Brigade commander level talks between India and China took place for the fourth consecutive day to resolve the crisis after three successive failed attempts even as Indian troops continued to occupy the heights on the southern banks of the 135 km lake besides positioning themselves on the Renchin La, south-east of Chushul.

The heights that were unoccupied earlier now gives the Indian troops a vantage position to look at PLA’s Moldo garrison through the Spanggur gap near Chushul.

Even on the northern bank, which remains the centre of action for the last four months, Indian Army troops made "some readjustments" of the positions as part of the precautionary deployment on the Indian side of the LAC. Sources said Indian troops are now on the ridgeline at Finger 2 and Finger 3, facing the PLA soldiers who are on Finger 4-8.

In Delhi, at an interactive session at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat said, “Of late, India has been seeing some aggressive actions by China but we are capable of handling these in the best suitable ways.”

General Rawat also warned about the possibility of Pakistan taking advantage of the border row with China to trigger instability in Jammu and Kashmir. “But the country will suffer heavy losses if it attempts any such misadventure against India,” he said.