India's army chief General Manoj Pande described the situation on the Chinese border as "stable but unpredictable," adding that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has not scaled back its forces along the LAC nor slowed down infrastructure development for better troop communication and mobility.
Speaking at a gathering, the Army chief also cautioned against China's deceit and double-talk. “We all know what the Chinese say and what they do is quite different. It is also a part of deception, or their nature or their character. We perhaps need to focus on their actions rather than what is there in their written texts or scripts or their articulation. Then we will not go wrong,” he said.
India is holding discussions at the political, diplomatic, and military levels to end the ongoing military conflict in eastern Ladakh after the PLA launched several well-coordinated incursions into the region in April–May 2020.
“Because of these talks, we have been able to find resolution for five of the seven friction points. We are now looking for a date for the 17th round of corps commander level talks. It is for the remaining two friction points that we are attempting to find a resolution,” Gen Pande said.
However, China has not yet demonstrated any willingness to engage in troop disengagement at the two significant strategically important Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction in Demchok and the Depsang Plains. If a general de-escalation occurs, it will require the two nations to withdraw their over 50,000 soldiers each who have been deployed in advance with heavy weaponry along the eastern Ladakh frontier for the past 30 months.
