According to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the situation between India and China in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh is delicate and perilous, with armed units posted quite close to each other in some areas.
When the two sides clashed in the region in mid-2020, at least 24 troops were killed, but the situation has since been resolved through rounds of diplomatic and military discussions.
In December, violence erupted in the eastern portion of the two countries’ un-demarcated border, but no one was killed.
“The situation to my mind still remains very fragile because there are places where our deployments are very close up and in military assessment therefore quite dangerous,” S Jaishankar said at an India Today conclave
Earlier at the same event, earlier, Indian Army chief, General Manoj Pande said, “Overall, the situation along the LAC is stable but we need to keep a very close watch as it develops.” He had added that China was building border infrastructure near the LAC and there was no troop reduction from the Chinese side at the border.
Since conducting several incursions into eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020, the People’s Liberation Army has maintained a forward deployed force of about 50,000 soldiers and heavy equipment. Along with a “high degree” of operational readiness, the Indian Army has a “strong” presence in all three sectors of the 3,488-kilometer-long LAC, which runs from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
