General Upendra Dwivedi.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said that “positive signalling” came from recent diplomatic talks between India and China but senior military commanders from both sides will have to sit together to see if the pending issues can be sorted out for the remaining flash points along the disputed boundary in eastern Ladakh.
"The positive signalling is coming from the diplomatic side, but what we need to understand (is that) the diplomatic side gives options and possibilities. When it comes to execution on ground, it is dependent on the military commanders on both sides to make those decisions," the Army Chief said here at a gathering of senior military commanders while responding to a question.
"The situation is stable, but it is not normal and it's sensitive. We want the situation that was there pre-April 2020 should be restored," he added.
Gen Dwivedi’s remarks came after a series of diplomatic dialogues between New Delhi and Beijing in the last three months with the aim of securing India’s patrolling right to those points that the Indian Army used to patrol before 2020.
Talks are now being held on legacy issues involving Depsang Plains, located close to the strategic Daulat Beg Oldie air strip, and Demchok. The friction points in these areas predate the June 2020 Galwan episode following which the Indian Army can’t access 26 of its 65 traditional patrolling points.
The military stand-off between the two sides in eastern Ladakh began in early May of 2020. The full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved, though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points. The last such disengagement from Goga-Hot Spring areas happened in September 2022.
"Till the time the situation is not restored, as far as we are concerned, the situation will remain sensitive. We are fully operationally prepared to face any kind of a contingency," he said. “In the complete gamut, the ‘trust’ has become the biggest casualty.”
Ahead of the winter season, the Indian Army is winter-stocking the troops deployed in areas close to the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control.
Over the last five years, the logistics support and infrastructure near the LAC has improved with the officials observing that large scale deployment near the disputed boundary will continue because of the mutual trust deficit.
The two sides had 21 rounds of talks between senior military commanders and the last such discussion took place on February 19.