Nagaland incident, dealing with Chinese PLA; Army chief on top of border situations [details]

Indian Army chief General MM Naravane addressed the Chief of Army Staff Annual Press Conference 2022 on Wednesday, briefing the media about the military situation across various Indian borders. Gen Naravane stressed on the preparedness of the Indian Army to deal with any arising situations along the northern (Ladakh) and western borders (LoC) and even touched upon the sensitive incident of civilian killings in Nagaland.

COAS Gen Naravane, during the annual pre-Army Day press briefing, reiterated that the Indian Army is well prepared to deal the Chinese PLA in ways it sees fit. He said that necessary safeguards are in place to handle any contingencies and the Army's response to Chinese attempts to change status quo was very robust and are willing to be deployed in eastern Ladakh for as long as necessary.

"We have continued to maintain the highest levels of operational preparedness while at the same time engaging with the Chinese PLA through dialogue," Gen Naravane said, adding that the military capabilities in the region has been increased significantly with 25,000 additional troops, weapons and infrastructure.

Gen Naravane noted that there has been positive development on the western border since last year and that the spike in terrorist infiltration attempts are noted.

Nagaland civilian killings

COAS also addressed the unfortunate incident of civilian killings in Nagaland on December 4 and said that appropriate action will be taken based on the inquiry report.

"The regrettable incident that occurred in Oting in Nagaland on December 4 is being thoroughly investigated. We remain committed to the security of our countrymen, even during the conduct of operations. Appropriate action will be taken based on report of inquiry. The inquiry report into December 4 Nagaland incident expected to come out in a day or two," the Indian Army Chief said.

The Nagaland government had set up a SIT team to thoroughly probe the incident, wherein para-commandos of the Indian Army in Oting allegedly killed civilians.

Military-media relationship

Gen Naravane acknowledged the role of the media organisations and said that both military and the media have a crucial role to play in building a strong nation.

"I look forward to a very strong and continuous partnership between the two of us – the media and the military – in the future," the Army chief said.