Top army commanders meeting in South Block; Ladakh, Galwan top on agenda

In this article, senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah outlines the meeting between India's top Army commanders in South Block. The meeting is the second leg of the biennial Army Commanders Conference (ACC). The meeting will continue on Tuesday too. It is for the first time that the ACC is being spread over two parts with the first leg being held in the last week of May.

New Delhi: Amid a tense face-off with the Chinese military, India’s top Army commanders are meeting in South Block, which houses the defence ministry, to discuss issues relating to the developments in eastern Ladakh and its implications on the country’s military preparedness.

A top government source told ETV Bharat that the meeting is the second leg of the biennial Army Commanders Conference (ACC). The meeting will continue on Tuesday too.

“The meeting will definitely discuss the development in eastern Ladakh which will include the ongoing standoffs at several points. China’s new territorial claim over the Galwan Valley will have a lot of military implications now as will the PLA build-up up to Finger 4 area in the Pangong lake area,” the source said.

“The top brass will also discuss the deployment and the kind of qualitative and quantitative response that has taken place from the India side in response to the evolving military situation along the border with China,” the official added pointing out that besides the operational, administrative and HR related issues will also be discussed during the two day meet.

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing top brass huddle, there are unconfirmed reports of unprecedented military activity by PLA in the border across Sikkim.

In 2017, Indian and Chinese troops had a 73-day-long standoff near the Doklam plateau, a trijunction between India, China and Bhutan.

The ACC is held for a week twice a year, usually in March-April and October. But this year, the conference was postponed due to the prevailing situation because of COVID 19.

It is for the first time that the ACC is being spread over two parts with the first leg being held in the last week of May.

Amid an ongoing war against the coronavirus pandemic, India is also facing aggression from Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

On Monday too, an army Havildar Dipak Karki was killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistan from across the LoC in Nowshera sector in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.