Dehradun: Army chief General M.M. Naravane on Saturday said everything was under control on the country’s borders with China and expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue will settle all the perceived differences between the two countries.
“I would like to assure everyone that the entire situation along our borders with China is under control. We are having a series of talks which started with Corps Commander level talks which was followed up with meetings at the local level between commanders of equivalent ranks,” Naravane told reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Military Academy’s Passing Out Parade here.
He said the ongoing dialogue will sort out all the perceived differences between the two countries.
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“As a result a lot of disengagement has taken place and we are hopeful that through the continued dialogue that we are having, all perceived differences that we (India and China) have will be set to rest,” the Army chief said.
He said both sides have begun to disengage in a phased manner and the process has started from the north.
“Both sides are disengaging in a phased manner. We have started from the north, from the area of the Galwan river where a lot of disengagement has taken place. It has been a very fruitful dialogue that we have had. And as I said it will go on and the situation will improve as we go on,” he said.
Replying to a question on Nepal, which has revised its map showing Lipulekh as Nepalese territory, he said India has always had strong ties with Nepal and they will remain strong in future.
“We have a very strong relationship with Nepal. We have geographical, cultural, historical, religious linkages. We have very strong people-to-people connect. Our relation with them has always been strong and will remain strong in the future.” PTI ALM
Jammu and Kashmir
Army Chief General Naravane also said that the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have had a lot of successes recently as people there are fed up with militancy and want normalcy to return to the Union territory.
“As far as Jammu and Kashmir or our western neighbour is concerned, we have had a lot of successes in the last one week or ten days. In the last 10-15 days alone more than 15 terrorists have been killed there,” Naravane told reporters on the sidelines of the IMA’s passing out parade which he addressed as the reviewing officer.
“All this has been because of the close cooperation and coordination between all the security forces operating in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
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He said a majority of the recent anti-terrorist operations were based on information provided by locals which is an indication that they are fed up with militancy and want normalcy to return to the valley.
“Most operations have been carried out on the basis of information provided by locals which goes to show they are also absolutely fed up with militancy and terrorism and want that the situation should return to normal,” Naravane said.
Note: This PTI story has been updated with more quotes from the Army Chief’s address.