Leh: Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi today reached Leh on a four-day long visit to the Union Territory of Ladakh to review operational preparedness of troops in Eastern Ladakh where Sino-Indian militaries are involved in a conflict spanning nearly two years.
He is also scheduled to visit Siachen sector, the world’s highest battlefield in Ladakh which, however, is calm.
Lt Gen Dwivedi arrived in Leh and was received by Commanders of Leh-based 14th Corps, also known as Fire and Fury Corps, and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
He is on a four-day visit to Ladakh sector to review operational preparedness, training, progress of induction of modern weapon systems, equipment and logistics assets, the officials said.
The Northern Command chief is expected to visit some forward posts in Eastern Ladakh where India and China’s army personnel are engaged in eyeball-to-eyeball position.
Soon after taking over as Army chief, General Manoj Pande had also visited Ladakh for three days from May 12-14. During the visit, he toured various forward posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and interacted with Field Commanders and Army soldiers deployed there.
Though disengagement by both sides has taken place in some of the areas, conflict persisted at many other posts.
“Visit of the Northern Command chief will boost morale of the troops deployed in forward areas,” sources said.
India and China held the 14th and 15th rounds of the Senior Commanders’ meeting in January and March respectively. Another round of talks between India and China militaries is expected to take place shortly.
As a result of the military talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquility along the LAC were key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.
Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector.
