Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita Army Commander , Eastern Command had a constructive and insightful interaction with Media professionals yesterday during ‘Meet the Press Programme’ in Kolkata.
The nation trusts Indian Armed Forces, he said declining to answer a “political question” by scribes here on recent demands by some opposition leaders demanding proof of the surgical strikes.
“This is a political question. So I don’t like to comment on that. I think the nation trusts the Indian Armed Forces,” he said at the press meet.
Observing that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh remains stable but unpredictable, Lt. General Rana Pratap Kalita, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command said on Friday that there was a proposal to develop 130 villages as model villages in areas along that border.
“Work has started in two-three villages, Kaho in eastern Arunachal Pradesh to be specific. Similarly all across the eastern theatre we have identified 130 villages and a similar number, lesser or more, has been identified in eastern Ladakh and in Himachal and Uttarakhand,” said Lt. Gen R P Kalita.
On December 13, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that the Chinese troops tried to “unilaterally” change the status quo in the Yangtse area in Arunachal Pradesh but the Indian Army compelled them to retreat with its firm and resolute response.
Interacting with media Lt. Gen. Kalita touched on a number of issues, including the reasons for recent skirmishes between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the LAC in the eastern theatre .In his words he explained- “Whole problem stems from the fact that the border between India and China in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh is not clearly demarcated. So there are different perceptions about the Line of Actual Control which leads to friction and escalation at times,” Lt. Gen. Kalita added.
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
(Author is a senior Journalist and covers Defence related issue over a decade)
Source: Army Authorities
