New Delhi: Army Chief, General MM Naravane, on Tuesday said that from north and south bank of Pangong Tso and Kailash Range, troops have gone back to their nearest permanent locations.
After the ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks, India and China have agreed for a phased disengagement from friction areas in Eastern Ladakh and now there is relative peace in the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Army Chief said.
According to wire agency, General Naravane said disengagement started on February 10 and since then it has been going on according to plan. “From north and south bank of Pangong Tso and Kailash Range, people have gone back to their nearest permanent locations,” the Army chief was quoted as saying in an interview.
“Thereby the face to face deployment which was there and because of which there could have been chances of miscalculation has now receded. Now there is relative peace and tranquility in LAC,” General Naravane said.
“We have not lost out on any territory, we are where we were before this whole thing started… Not an inch of land has been lost,” he further said.
Regarding cross-border militancy, the Army Chief said militant camps and infrastructure still exist on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC). “For militancy to come down, the camps have to get dismantled. It’s only when snow melts will we come to know how serious Pakistan is about dismantling militant infrastructure for putting people across,” he said.
“We also have some local militants who are increasingly feeling marginalised and in the recent past, one or two acts have taken place which are just acts of desperation on their part,” he added. (Courtesy News 18)