“Our position is unequivocal. We will not accept any changes to the Line of Real Control ”, he stated.
India will not accept any “changes” to the Royal Line of Control (LAC), and unprovoked tactical military actions that “escalate into a major conflict” cannot be ruled out, “Defense Chief of Staff said on Friday. General Bipin Rawat, in the eighth round of En Chushul talks are taking place with senior military commanders between India and China to resolve the ongoing confrontation.
“Our position is unequivocal. We will not accept any changes to LAC. In the general security calculation, border clashes, transgressions, unprovoked tactical military actions that escalate into a larger conflict, therefore cannot be ruled out, ”General Rawat said in a National Defense College webinar. as part of their Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
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Speaking of the situation in eastern Ladakh, General Rawat said that the situation remained tense and that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) faced “unforeseen consequences” of its “misfortune” in Ladakh due to the firm and strong response of the Indian defense forces.
Talks at the Corps Commander level began at 9:30 am on the Indian side of Chushul, a defense source confirmed. India’s stance remains firm for disengagement throughout eastern Ladakh, the source said. After the events on the south bank of Pangong Tso in August, when the Indian army occupied several key features that were empty, China has been pushing to discuss the south bank first and other areas of friction later.
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This is the first round of talks with the Indian side led by Lt. Gen. PGK Menon, who took over as Commander of the 14th Corps on October 13. You have attended the last two rounds of talks.
‘Numerous external challenges’
Stating that India faced myriad external security challenges, General Rawat said that constant friction with two of our nuclear-armed neighbors with whom India had fought wars, “increasingly acting in collusion, poses an ever-present danger of regional strategic instability. with potential for escalation, what national integrity and strategic cohesion ”.
With no progress in talks to resolve the standoff along the disputed border in eastern Ladakh that was ongoing since the first week of May, both sides have made preparations to keep thousands of troops and equipment in dire conditions in the winter at high altitude.
Addressing the webinar, the chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, said his proactive actions and firm stance were instrumental in deterring China from making further attempts to disrupt the status quo. in Ladakh.
While both sides agreed to “stop sending more troops to the front” and “refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground” in the sixth round of talks, there has been no progress on the ground towards a resolution.
The confrontation has continued since the beginning of May after the entry of PLA troops in various places in areas controlled by the Indians. Since then, there have been several rounds of military and diplomatic talks in which India has been totally disconnected and de-escalated throughout LAC and backtracked. There was a violent clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15 in which 20 Indian personnel lost their lives, the first combat deaths in LAC in more than four decades. At the South Bank, both sides fired bullets into the air, another first in Latin America and the Caribbean in decades.
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