In Arunachal Pradesh, it is being reported that the Indian Army has deployed Bofors Guns in a forward area along the Line of Actual Control. This story comes just a day after the Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General, Manoj Pande, said that China has the scale and duration of its military drills across the contested border in Arunachal Pradesh.
In Arunachal Pradesh
ANI, on Wednesday, October 20, tweeted “Bofors guns deployed in a forward area along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh.”
Increase in Chinese Military drills
“Annual training exercises by the PLA have increased in their depth areas. Reserve formations mobilized (after the Ladakh standoff began in May 2020) still remain in training areas in the depth,” Pande said while briefing reporters on the LAC situation in the east at the Rupa-headquartered HQs 5 Mountain Division.
“Adequate forces are deployed in all sectors to deal with any contingency. We are also rehearsing and preparing for various contingencies that may arise,” he said. “In certain areas where our deployment was thin, steps have been taken to strengthen it.”
India’s push to infrastructure development
India has started to give a significant effort to boost connectivity along the nearly 1,350-km Line of Actual Control in the Arunachal Pradesh sector. To assure quick mobilization of troops and heavy weaponry, high-tech surveillance has been put to use, to deal with any eventuality in the face of the standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
“We are employing technology in a big way to boost our awareness of the situation. It allows us to do away with the need to push troops to forward areas in peacetime,” said Major General Zubin A Minwalla, the commander of the Rupa-based HQs 5 Mountain Division. The division’s responsibilities encompass the sensitive Tawang sector.
Moreover, there are developments on about 20 bridges, many tunnels, air bases, and numerous key roads in areas of strategic importance in Arunachal Pradesh to reinforce the overall military preparation, officials said on Monday.
