Despite Pangong de-escalation, China risk stays: Army chief
Despite the de-escalation on Pangong Lake in Ladakh, the risk from China has not totally dissipated, Army chief MM Naravane mentioned Thursday as he burdened on the necessity to demarcate the Line of Actual Control. He additionally mentioned the seriousness of Pakistan with regard to the ceasefire on the Line of Control may solely be gauged after the onset of the summer season.
“Unless a substantial amount of de-escalation takes place and the troops that had come from multiple places and are currently within striking distance of the border go back, the threat remains,” Naravane mentioned on the Times Now International Economic Conclave.
He mentioned there was stress on the Northern borders which was resolved by a number of rounds of talks culminating in disengagement at Pangong Tso. “The interaction was at different levels including the foreign ministers and defence ministers of both countries and reversion to status quo ante of April 2020 was the bottomline in all discussions.”
On the lately concluded navy stage talks with Pakistan, the Chief of Army Staff mentioned: “There were talks between the DsGMO of both sides and a joint statement was issued on February 25, agreeing to resuscitate the ceasefire understanding of 2003 which was being honoured more in its breach. The whole month of March, we didn’t witness even a single round being fired on the LC barring one incident. It is for the first time in about five to six years that the LC has been silent. This really bodes well for the future. With peace and tranquillity prevailing on the border, it will contribute to the peace and stability of the country.”
Dwelling upon the explanations for ceasefire violations up to now and Pakistan now agreeing to honour it, the he mentioned: “Ceasefire move was prompted by the futility of duels on the LC which was not resulting in any forward movement. They were also facing internal problems and over a period of time, even they realised that it was time to change tack and extend an olive branch. However, terror infrastructure and terrorists still remain in place and we will have to wait till the snow melts in order to see the seriousness with which Pakistanis treat this ceasefire.”
He added that there have been primarily three causes for Pakistan’s transfer for peace—the specter of FATF sanctions, home compulsions, and scenario on its Western border with Afghanistan.
On the way forward for the association, Naravane expressed cautious optimism. “We have reasons to be hopeful as the Pakistani Army is on board. Since the firing along the LC was done to give cover to the terrorists attempting to infiltrate and there has been no firing recently, there is cause to be optimistic about the future. We need to wait and see how things develop before we make any concrete assessment.”
The Army chief additionally spoke in regards to the scenario in Jammu and Kashmir which he mentioned was “getting better”. He mentioned the statistics on safety scenario in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 present that the situation within the Valley is getting higher. This, he mentioned, is confirmed by the excessive variety of vacationers within the peak winter months.
Naravane, nevertheless, added that social media was taking part in a job in radicalising youth.
“Youth are getting attracted to the romanticism of gun culture, especially through social media. We are taking a number of steps such as generating employment opportunities for them outside J&K, and attempting to wean them away from violence… The people of J&K know what is good for them. But sometimes they are forced to take actions and make statements under the shadow of the gun as the security forces cannot be omnipresent all the time… The youth are not getting radicalised as much as people think,” he mentioned.
