After over four years of the ongoing military stand-off in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the situation on India-China borders is “stable but not normal”, Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said in an exclusive interview with Firstpost Managing Editor Palki Sharma.
He said, “As far as China is concerned, it has been intriguing our minds for quite some time. I keep saying that with China, you have to compete, you have to cooperate, you have to coexist, you have to compete, you have to confront and contest.”
“A positive signalling is coming from the diplomatic side. But what we have to understand is that the diplomatic side gives you options and possibilities, but when it comes to execution on ground, it is dependent on the military commanders on both sides to take a decision,” General Dwivedi said.
He said, “The situation is stable, but it’s not normal and it’s sensitive.”
“We want the situation that was before April 2020 to be restored. Till the time, the situation will remain sensitive, and we are prepared for any kind of contingency. The trust has become the biggest casualty,” the Army chief said.
On progress on flashpoints like Demchok, he said, “Everything we can think of along the Northern Front is on the table, it includes Depsang and Demchok.”
He spoke on a range of issues including terror attacks in the Jammu region of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, situation in Manipur and Lebanon pager attacks.
On the new wave of attacks in Jammu, General Dwivedi said, “If you take all the parameters, I feel we are moving towards peace. The terrorists who have come now are foreign terrorists.”
Whether model villages and border infrastructure are helping in countering Chinese expansionism, General Dwivedi said, “State governments have been empowered now to put in resources, and this is the time where the Army, the state governments, and supervision by the central government, all three are coming together. The model villages which are coming together now – they will be much better.”
On the ground situation in Manipur, he said, “It has become a battle of narratives. Situation may be stable today, but it is tense.”
The Indian Army chief explained how the Lebanon pager attack, attributed to Israel, could have been carried out. He said, “The war does not start the day you start fighting, it starts the day you start planning.”
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Exclusive | Army chief tells Firstpost ‘Situation on China border stable but not normal’
