India-China face-off: Former Army Chief General MM Naravane has spoken on the recent India-China clash in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) saying the Chinese have been trying to alter the status quo along the LAC for many years.
"They've been doing this in very small incremental steps... but over a period of time, they've gained a lot. This is the tactic they've adopted and are continuing to do," Ex-Army Chief General MM Naravane (Retd) said.
"Their (China's PLA) long-term strategy has been the same - keep inching forward, keep probing us for any possible weakness & if there's any, come sit there and say this is how it always was. So, every small probing action has to be contested," Naravane added.
"We've been always patrolling up to PP15, but they were trying to stop us from going to our traditional patrolling point.That was unacceptable. To stop us from coming, they'd established small outpost & we objected very vehemently," Ex-Army chief Gen MM Naravane (retd) said.
"But they were adamant that they would not go back & therefore we had to be more assertive and that is when they also came with additional strength & entire clash happened on our side of PP15 but we were able to make sure that they go back," he added.
After a clash between the Indian Army and Chinese PLA on 17,000-ft high peak in Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-level meeting with the NSA, Army chief and CDS. Sources have said that India was firmly in control of 17,000-ft high peak in Arunachal.
At ground zero the commanders of both Indian and Chinese armies held a flag meeting. According to the Indian Army, India has firm control of the peak, and now both sides have disengaged from the area.
The clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops had erupted on December 9. The location of the clash is important. China has been repeatedly trying to take control of a 17,000-ft high peak. Sources in the Indian Army said that India has a firm control of the peak. This peak provides a commandeering view on both sides of the border, he added.
The area commanders of both Indian and Chinese armies held a flag meeting after the December 9 clash in Arunachal Pradesh. Both sides also immediately disengaged from the area. The area commanders of both armies held the discussion in accordance with the structured mechanisms to restore normalcy.
The high-level emergency meeting called by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was attended by CDS Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Manoj Pande and NSA Ajit Doval.
On December 9 along the section of the Line of Actual control (LAC) at Yangtse, some 35 km north-east of Tawang in the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, around 300 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army came close to the LAC in the Tawang sector.
It resulted in a clash between Indian and Chinese troops. A source informed that there have been injuries to both Indian and Chinese soldiers and six of the injured had been admitted to the military hospital at Guwahati, but there are no reports of any death.
According to the sources, the face-off took place at the Tawang Sector of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the first incident in a long time that such clashes have been reported between the Indian and Chinese troops since the confrontation at eastern Ladakh.
Earlier this month, China had also objected to India- American joint military exercise at Auli in Uttarakhand. Though India dismissed China's objection to the joint exercise near the Line of Actual Control in Uttarakhand's Auli, saying it did not give a veto to third countries on these issues.
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