Everything is under control: Army chief on India-China border row

NEW DELHI: Army chief general MM Naravane said on Saturday that entire situation along India borders with China is under control and expressed hope that all perceived differences will be set to rest through bilateral dialogues.
"I would like to assure everyone that entire situation along our borders with China is under control. We're having a series of talks which started with Corps Commander level talks. This has been followed up with meetings at local level between commanders of equivalent ranks," the Army chief said.
"As a result, a lot of disengagement has taken place and we are hopeful that through the continued dialogue we're having, all perceived differences that we (India and China) have will be set to rest," he said.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh had on Friday reviewed India's overall military preparedness in eastern Ladakh and several other sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh even as commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies held another round of talks to end the current standoff, official sources said.
The defence minister was given a detailed account of the overall situation in eastern Ladakh by Army chief Gen MM Naravane at a high-level meeting which was also attended by chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat, navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and air chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.
The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in an over five-week standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
The two sides have deployed additional troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto Sino-India border, in North Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh in the last few days, the sources said.
In the review meeting, Singh told the top military brass to continue to deal with the situation in eastern Ladakh and other areas with "firmness", at the same time insisting that the two sides must resolve the row through talks, they said.
(With inputs from agencies)