Increasing activities by China in depth areas of eastern sector: Eastern Army Commander

China has increased the intensity of carrying out military drills and deployment in its depth areas opposite the Arunachal Pradesh sector and India has correspondingly readied contingency plans to deal with any security challenges in the region, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Manoj Pande said on Tuesday.Giving an account of India’s overall military modernisation, Lt Gen Pande also said that an in-principle approval has been given to new combat formations called the Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) which can mobilise fast with a more effective approach.The IBGs will comprise a mix of infantry, artillery, air defence, tanks and logistics units and the new set up is expected to revamp the Army’s war fighting capabilities, particularly along the borders with China and Pakistan.Lt Gen Pande added that the plan to operationalise the 17 Mountain Corp has been implemented in sync with a plan finalised in 2014.”The annual training exercise that the PLA carries out there has seen some increase in the level of activities in the depth areas. Some of the reserve formations which the PLA mobilised continue to remain in their training areas that are in the operational depth areas,” he said.”Both sides are attempting to develop infrastructure closer to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that create certain issues at times,” he said, adding there has been an increase in deployment of troops following the development of new infrastructure.The commander said India has taken a number of steps and the foremost among them is enhancing surveillance both close to the LAC and the depth areas by synergising all surveillance resources right from the strategic level to the tactical level.”We have adequate forces that are available in each sector to deal with any contingency that may arise. We are practising and rehearsing various contingencies that may arise,” he said.



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