‘The unilateral conspiracy by China to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh last year was given a befitting reply,’ he says.

The unilateral conspiracy by China to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh last year was given a befitting reply and no one should make the mistake of testing our patience said Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane on Friday.
Paying homage to the Army personnel who lost their lives in the violent clash at Galwan, Gen. Naravane said their sacrifice will not go waste. We are committed to resolve disputes through dialogue and political process, however, no one should make the mistake of testing our patience, he said in the customary address at Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment to the rank and file on Army Day.
Talking of military modernisation, Gen. Naravane said 38 deals were made through emergency and fast track route worth about 5,000 crore. In addition, capital procurements worth 13,000 crore were also concluded.
The procurements include light machine guns, light special vehicles and protective gear for infantry, infantry combat vehicles for mechanised infantry and long range vectors for artillery and also equipment for Engineers and Signals regiments.
On the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, Gen. Naravane said around 300 to 400 terrorists were waiting at launch pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to cross the LoC. He also said there had been a 40% increase in cease fire violations and drones and tunnels had been used to facilitate smuggling of weapons.
He said over 600 insurgents had surrendered in the North East in the last year and joint operations with Myanmar had been successfully against insurgent groups.