New Delhi:Engaged in a military standoff with China for over two years now, the Indian security forces are maintaining a high level of operational preparedness as well as creating new infrastructure in the Ladakh sector.
Government sources told ANI that to enhance jointness and integration between the Indian Army and the Indo Tibetan Border Police all along the Line of Actual Control, both forces are holding multiple joint exercises.
From Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian security forces are holding exercises to enhance wartime preparedness, they said.
Recently, the Indian Army and the ITBP had held a joint exercise in the central sector codenamed ‘IBEX’ to enhance jointness on the Uttarakhand border with China, they said.
On the other side, the Chinese forces are also conducting their own summer exercises as their Army battalions are regularly coming to the area, the sources said.
The activities of the adversary are being continuously watched and it has been observed that their battalions are coming into the training areas and getting replaced by new ones at frequent intervals, they said.
The Chinese side has also built up heavy infrastructure all along the Line of Actual Control where they are making permanent habitat for their troops, they said.
Meanwhile, even as the Chinese side builds infrastructure like bridges on the Pangong Tso for allowing faster access to their troops to forward locations, India is also continuing to build alternative roads for reaching the Depsanh plains and connecting it with the Nubra valley.
Sources said the work is on the road planned around the time the Chinese started unilateral aggression on the LAC in April-May, 2020, is moving fast and all necessary clearances have been attained.
The Daulat Beg Oldie area can be accessed through the Durbuk-Shyok-DBO road but the new axis would allow troops to move in into the area around the year as it would be an all-weather road, they said.
The Nubra valley is on the Western side and houses the airbase also which is now being sued to provide support to both the eastern and western sectors including the operations in the Siachen glacier area, they said.
India has carried out a massive realignment of its troops and deployed an additional Strike Corps to counter any Chinese misadventure anywhere along the LAC.
The road network along the Khardung La pass has also been upgraded along the Khardung La pass which gives access to the Nubra valley and the new axis planned from a nearby area, the sources said.
The infrastructure from capital Leh to eastern Ladakh has also been strengthened as the journey time for military convoys from Leh to the forward posts has been cut down drastically, they said.