Situation along China border stable but ‘not normal’: Army chief

He says that with China, you have to ‘compete, cooperate, coexist, confront, and contest’

The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is “stable” but “not normal”, said Army chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday (October 1, 2024), adding that trust has been the “biggest” casualty. He also cautioned against Chinese “grey zone” warfare tactics.

He was speaking at the curtain raiser event for the Chanakya defence dialogue to be organised jointly by the Army and the Centre for Land Warfare Studies on October 24 and 25.

“The situation on the ground today is stable but it is not normal and it is sensitive. We want the situation that existed pre-April 2020 to be restored, whether it be the ground occupation/situation, the buffer zones that have been created or the patrolling that has been planned. Till the time that is not restored, as far as we are concerned, the situation will remain sensitive and we are operationally prepared to face any contingency… and in the entire gamut, we see that trust has been the biggest casualty,” Gen. Dwivedi said.

“As far as China is concerned, it has been intriguing our minds for quite some time. With China, you have to compete, cooperate, coexist, confront, and contest,” the Army chief said.

On any possible movement in disengagement from the two remaining friction points, the Army chief said whatever the “low hanging fruits” were, those had already been resolved. He spoke of finding a win-win situation on other difficult aspects. “So some kind of indication has been given from both the diplomatic sides. Now the military side will sit together and see how this can be translated on ground. What is on the table? Everything we can think of is on the table along the northern front, and it also includes Depsang and Demchok,” Gen. Dwivedi said.

Manipur situation

On the situation in Manipur, the Army chief observed that a rumour led to major violence. “Over a period of time, it has become a battle of narratives. There is polarisation between communities. The situation may be stable today, but it is tense.”

There was weaponisation of society to some extent due to stolen weapons, he said, of which around 25% had been recovered so far. He, however, said there were no drone bombs. He also refuted claims of infiltration by 900 anti-national elements.

The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), which had reached 60,000 at one point, had come down to below 40,000. “Women-led organisations have come up for defensive purposes. Underground organisations have come up for defensive purposes. The battle lines are getting hardened,” he said.

The Army and Assam Rifles have deployed 126 columns combined, in conjunction with other stakeholders already operating in the State. “We are trying to calm down the situation. We are trying to restore trust. When social fracturing takes place, it takes own time to recover,” he said.

In this regard, he stressed that build-up of wrong narratives should not be allowed. He referred to the narrative on drone bombs. “We had gone on ground and checked, there is no drone bomb. Then was another wrong narrative that 900 anti-national elements have infiltrated. We checked up, there is nothing like that,” he stated, adding that if the wrong narrative is controlled, things will be alright.

Grey zone tactics

To a question on new Chinese model villages coming up close to the LAC, Gen. Dwivedi pointed out that there was hardly any Chinese or Tibetan population near the border. “They [China] are carrying out this artificial migration, settlement, which was no problem as it’s their country, he observed. “But what we see in the South China Sea... When we talk about the grey zone, initially we find fishermen and those are the kind of people who are in the forefront. And in order to save them, then you find the military moving in...,” he remarked saying this was leading to some kind of a grey zone, where the causation may look very simple, but it may have a “grandiose design behind it”.

India too has taken up Vibrant Village Programme to develop border villages and bring people back. On this, he said the State government had been empowered, and the Army was also involved through Operation Sadbhavana. With the supervision of the Central government, the model villages that are being built “now will be much better”.

Talking further on ‘grey zone’ tactics by China, the Army Chief questioned, “Do we call Doklam a war? Do we call Kargil a full-fledged war? Do we call Galwan a war? The answer is no. So all these are basically part of the grey zone battle. So we need to be prepared for it.”

Hopes of breakthrough

In the run-up to the BRICS summit later this month in Russia, there has been expectation of a possible breakthrough in the talks for disengagement of troops from Depsang and Demchok.

Speaking in Geneva on September 12, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that “roughly” about “75% of disengagement problems are sorted out”. “We still have some things to do,” he said, adding that “there is a bigger issue that both of us have brought forces close up and in that sense, there is a militarisation of the border”.

There have been several high-level political engagements in the last few months at the Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser levels. There have been two rounds diplomatic-level talks, and the next round of Corps Commander level talks are due.

Since the Corps Commander-level talks in 2020, the two sides have so far undertaken disengagement from five friction points – from Galwan after the violent clash in June 2020, from the North and South Banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021, from Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in August 2021 and PP15 in September 2022. The last disengagement, from PP15, was a result of the understanding reached during the 16th round of Corps Commander-level military talks held on July 17, 2022.

Published - October 01, 2024 10:51 pm IST