Chinese PLA increases exercises along LAC, India enhances surveillance: Lt Gen Manoj Pande

Chinese PLA increases exercises along LAC, India enhances surveillance: Lt Gen Manoj Pande

Eastern Army commander Lieutenant General Manoj Pande said that there has been an increase in the number of exercises by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Tibet autonomous region in the last few months as India considers alternate border management.

Speaking to the media at a forward location in Arunachal Pradesh about Chinese activities across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Sector, Lt Gen Pande said: “So far as the activities on the other side of the LAC is concerned there are three to four issues.”

He said that firstly, annual training exercises carried out by the PLA have increased. “There has been some increase in the activities but in the depth areas,” he said.

Secondly, some of the reserve formations of the PLA which were mobilised have continued to remain in their training areas that again is in the operational depth area, the officer said.

Lt Gen Pande pointed out that both sides are attempting to develop infrastructure closer to the line of LAC and which again leads to certain issue at times.

“Since these infrastructure has come up close to the LAC there has also been an marginal increase in number of border defence troops.”

Explaining about the recent LAC face-off in the Eastern Sector, he said: “Along this LAC, we have a numbers of areas and number of points where patrols from both side interacts either in a scheduled manner or at times at chance encounter… We also have certain areas of different perceptions here wherein our perception of the LAC is different from what the Chinese perception is and especially in these areas sometimes the patrol comes face to face which then results in a face-off.”

The officer added that the force have a robust mechanism, SOP protocols because of which they are able to resolve such situation as and when they arise.