Army Chief vows zero tolerance for Poonch civilian killings

SRINAGAR: Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Thursday said the situation in the Rajouri-Poonch region is a matter of “concern”, adding the Army is enhancing the deployment of troops, boosting intelligence apparatus, and reaching out to local people as part of measures to contain terrorist activities.

While addressing a press conference, the Chief of Army Staff said that he has conveyed an unambiguous message to the soldiers and commanders that there will be “zero tolerance” to human rights violations and they must operate professionally.” Three civilians were killed in Poonch last month allegedly during questioning by the Army in connection with an ambush of Army personnel by terrorists. Four Army soldiers were martyred in the ambush.

There has been a drop in overall incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir but such incidents increased in the Rajouri-Poonch sector, he said. The Chief of Army Staff said the situation along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh is “stable” but “sensitive” and asserted that the Indian troops are maintaining a “very high state” of operational preparedness to effectively deal with any kind of eventuality.

General Pande said both India and China continue to hold talks at military and diplomatic levels to return to the “status quo ante” that existed in the middle of 2020. “The situation on the Northern border is stable yet sensitive. We continue to talk both at the military and diplomatic level as per established protocols and procedures to find a resolution to the balance issues,” he said. “Our operational preparedness in these areas continues to be of a very high level. The deployment is both robust and balanced,” he further added.

The Chief of Army Staff said the Indian Army continues to maintain adequate reserves in all the areas so that it can effectively deal with any contingencies that may arise. While responding to a query on whether any kind of steps will be taken to bring down the level of deployment of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, the Chief of Army Staff said the primary focus is to go back to the status quo ante that existed before the standoff began in 2020.

“Currently we attempt to continue to talk about going back to the status quo ante which existed in the middle of 2020. And once that happens we can look at the larger issue of troop reduction. Till the time, whatever forces are required to be deployed along the LAC, we will continue to do that,” he said. The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over three-year confrontation in certain friction points in Eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. The Eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the region.