Amid escalating tensions with China in the Ladakh sector following provocative Chinese actions on the southern bank of Pangong Tso and India’s counter maneuvers to occupy key heights, Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday that Pakistan could try to take advantage of any threat that develops along India’s northern borders, but warned that the Pakistani military would suffer heavy losses if it attempted any mishap.
In a seminar organized by the United States-India Strategic Partnership Forum on “Navigating New Challenges,” Rawat highlighted the threat of “coordinated action” by the armies of China and Pakistan along the northern and western borders and He stressed that the Indian armed forces were able to handle the joint threat.
The CDS said India’s military strategy to deal with a dual challenge would be based on identifying a primary and a secondary front for operations.
Also read: Amid LAC stagnation in Ladakh, India says the only way forward is through talks
His remarks came on a day when the chief of the Indian army, General Manoj Mukund Naravane, arrived in Leh for a two-day security review of the Ladakh sector, where the armies of India and China have deployed nearly 100,000 soldiers and weaponry. in its advancement and depth areas.
The Indian Army has readjusted its deployments at multiple points along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, including the northern shore of Lake Pangong, to prevent the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from ) perform aggressive maneuvers to unilaterally alter the state. quo in the disputed areas.
Tensions flared in the sensitive sector after the Indian Army occupied key points on the southern shore of Lake Pangong five days ago to prevent the PLA from taking over Indian territory in a stealthy midnight move.
Officers with the rank of brigade commander from the two sides met for the fourth time in Chushul on Thursday to defuse tensions, but the talks were inconclusive and neither army was willing to make concessions.
Also read: Do not meddle in the border dispute with India, China tells us
On Wednesday, the chief of the Indian Air Force, Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, visited the front line bases under the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command to review the operational readiness of the air force in the eastern sector.
India has strengthened its military posture throughout LAC, from Ladakh to Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, to face any provocation from the Chinese army.
India is also keeping a tight watch on the western front to deter Pakistan from fishing in troubled waters and avoid what could result in a conflict on two fronts.
Experts said collusive action by China and Pakistan was a possibility. “While hostility to Pakistan is on the horizon, we are now witnessing China’s military coercion in the Ladakh sector. It is not beyond the scope of the possibility that they can collude militarily. They already have a strategic collusion, ”said Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retired), former commander of the Northern Army.
Reports prepared by the parliamentary permanent defense committee over the past decade have delved into the threat that China and Pakistan could pose together. Pakistan is likely to escalate hostilities if China launches offensive operations against India, a senior military official told the committee in 2014. However, he stressed that China might not pose a collusive threat if hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan. .
In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s sovereignty was supreme and that if anyone threatened it, from the Line of Control (LdC) to LAC, the armed forces would respond to them “in the same language. “.
Rawat said that India has border management protocols with China to promote peace and tranquility along the border, but lately there have been aggressive actions by China that the Indian military is fully capable of handling. He said India was following the development of China’s infrastructure in the Tibet Autonomous Region and its implications were being considered when devising military strategy.
The CDS referred to the Quad as a good arrangement to ensure full freedom of navigation on the high seas and overflights, and unhindered trade. China has also mistrusted the Quadrilateral or Quad security dialogue that was revived in late 2017 by India, the US, Australia and Japan, and these suspicions have increased since the four countries elevated the forum to ministerial level last year. .
Rawat said India and the United States could soon finalize the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) to share geospatial intelligence. He said India was seeking collaboration with the United States to acquire high-end technologies in areas such as aerospace, space and artificial intelligence.
He added that there was huge scope for investment in India with the foreign direct investment limit raised to 74 percent.
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