12 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The head of the Indian Army, General Manoj Pande, described this Thursday as “stable” although “unpredictable” the situation on the border with China, where there have been various clashes over the past few years.
“The situation on the northern borders, although unpredictable, is stable and under control,” Pande said at a press conference held on the occasion of Army Day, which will be held on January 15.
Thus, he has indicated that the Indian Army is “prepared for anything” in the face of a possible increase in violence and has pointed out that the authorities of both countries “continue to talk at the military and diplomatic level to resolve their disputes.”
“We have been able to resolve five of the seven issues that were on the table. (…) We have sufficient reserves to deal with any type of contingency,” he asserted, according to information from the newspaper ‘The Times of India’.
Pande has warned that “despite the fact that there are parameters that point to a decrease in violence, we must remain vigilant” and has asserted that “any type of change in the ‘status quo’ of the area must be avoided”.
On December 9, soldiers from India and China clashed on the ‘de facto’ border that separates them in Tawang, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The tensions concern the mountainous territory in the north of the Kashmir region, as well as some 60,000 square kilometers in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh (northeast). The Line of Current Control, which replaces the border between the two countries in that region, passes through Ladaj, which in 1962 was the scene of an open war between the parties.
India disputes control from China over 38,000 square kilometers of land in Aksai Chin, which it claims is part of Ladaj. Beijing in turn claims 90,000 square kilometers of territory in Arunachal Pradesh, which it considers part of southern Tibet.
