Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said on Saturday said that the Chinese troops have been deployed in \u201cconsiderable numbers” across all eastern Ladakh and northern front, right up to India\u2019s eastern command. Saying it a \u201cmatter of concern”, the Army chief added that there has been an increase in the PLA\u2019s deployment.<\/p>\n
Notably, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane in Leh Town, Ladakh. (ANI)Army Chief Gen MM where the world’s largest Khadi national flag was installed on October 2, on the occasion of the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.<\/p>\n
He was quoted as saying by ANI in Ladakh,\u00a0\u201cChinese have deployed in considerable numbers all across Eastern Ladakh and Northern front right up to our Eastern command. Definitely, there has been an increase in their deployment in the forward areas which remains a matter of concern for us.”<\/p>\n
Naravane on Friday visited several well-developed areas in eastern Ladakh and carried out an extensive review of India\u2019s operational mobility in the backdrop of its long-drawn military deadlock with China in the mountainous region. He was given a detailed briefing about the overall situation in the region at the headquarters of the 14 Corps, popularly known as the \u2018Fire and Fury Corps\u2019, that takes care of guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the Ladakh region, officials said.<\/p>\n
Reports say that on the first day of his two-day tour of the region, Gen Naravane visited the strategically sensitive Rezang-La area and visited a war-memorial there to pay homage to the soldiers who laid down their lives in defending the country, they said. Gen Naravane also called on Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Radha Krishna Mathur, and discussed the prevailing security scenario in the Union Territory.<\/p>\n
Several reports had recently quoted sources as saying that China has put in place new modular container-based accommodations for its troops in several high-altitude forward areas on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in response to Indian deployment in the region. The shelters were installed in locations near Tashigong, Manza, Hot Springs, and Churup among others, in reflection of simmering tensions between the two sides in the region, they said.<\/p>\n
Sources cited above said China\u2019s People Liberation Army has been feeling the heat of the Indian response to its \u201cmisadventure” in the region last year and that the Chinese military has been forced to go for long deployments and boost infrastructure in the region. They said the Indian response to the Chinese actions last year, particularly after the Galwan Valley clashes, surprised the neighboring country and that it deployed troops in areas where it never used to earlier.<\/p>\n
The situation in the area is sensitive and is a matter of great concern.<\/p>\n