Armed forces told to forcefully deal with Chinese aggression along LAC

New Delhi: The armed forces deployed along the 3,500-km de-facto border with China have been given “full freedom” in giving “befitting” reply to any Chinese aggressive behaviour, government sources said after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-level meeting with top military brass on the situation in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

The sources said Singh told the top military brass to maintain a strict vigil on Chinese activities around the land border, airspace and in strategic sea lanes and asked them to adopt a “tough” approach in dealing with any misadventure by Chinese forces.

Indian and Chinese armies have been on a six-week standoff in several areas of eastern Ladakh. The ties between the two countries came under severe strain after the Chinese military killed 20 Indian Army personnel and injured around 76 in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has not yet talked about the number of casualties it suffered.

The sources said the armed forces have been given full freedom to deal with any act of aggression by China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border between the two countries.

They said the Army, as well as the IAF, have already been ramping up their operational capabilities along the LAC to effectively deal with any Chinese misadventure.