New Delhi: Front-line bases of the Indian army and the air force along the nearly 3,500 km de-facto border with China were Wednesday put on high alert in view of the worst border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh that left 20 Army personnel dead.
The Indian Navy has also been asked to raise its alert level in the Indian Ocean Region where Chinese Navy has been making regular forays.
The decision to raise the alert level of the three forces were taken at a high-level meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held with Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs, sources said.
Tensions are high as the Government of India has given powers to the armed forces to make emergency procurements to stock up its war reserves amid tension building up on the LAC with China, a day after 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
Economic Times reported that the government did not want to leave anything to chance at this stage, especially after the violence on Monday night.
“The Navy has also been given the go-ahead to deploy its assets near the Malacca Strait and, if needed, anywhere else in the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinese action. Air Force assets, including fighters, too have been moved up to forward locations,” the report claimed.
Prime Minster of India Narendra Modi has said that the sacrifices of soldiers along the border with China will not go in vain. Modi made the comments during a virtual meet with the Chief Minsters of different states.
India wants peace but is capable of giving befitting reply, if instigated, he said.
The comments came after violent clashes between the armies of India and China in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh region ended up in casualties on both sides.
A bloody and violent hand-to-hand fight raged across the Galwan Valley between Indian soldiers and the Chinese Army that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Reports also suggest that soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were killed and injured.
The external affairs ministry has said the escalation in Galwan Valley of Ladakh happened “as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there”.
A statement by the Indian Army read that senior military officials of both sides are engaged in a meeting to defuse the situation.
China has accused India of crossing the border and attacking Chinese personnel, and called on India to “not take unilateral actions or stir up trouble.”
The armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff at three points in eastern Ladakh, wherein China has reportedly occupied 60 sq. kilometres of territory claimed by India.
The Chinese military’s has claimed sovereignty over the entire Galwan valley.
A Chinese diplomat reacting to the standoff in Ladakh has said that the move is linked to the Indian government’s unilateral decision to scrap Article 370 in August last year.
The move changed the laws that prohibited Indians from buying land in Kashmir, and made the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir defunct, triggering fears of demographic change in the Muslims majority region of Kashmir.
When India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued two statements criticising the development, including one that focused on the splitting of the state into union territories.
This statement, while urging India to be “cautious” on the border issue and to avoid “actions that further complicate the border issue”, said: “China has always opposed India’s inclusion of Chinese territory in India’s administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border.” This was a reference to the area in Ladakh that New Delhi claims but is controlled by Beijing.
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