Status quo maintained with China on LAC, talks on at different levels: Northern Army Commander

The Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army are locked in a standoff in multiple areas along the LAC in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

Lt Gen Dwivedi also talked about continuity of the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan but said there have been some infiltration attempts which have been successfully foiled by the Indian Army.

“The situation in the hinterland (J&K) is largely under control. Our CI/CT (counter intelligence and counter terrorist) grid is fully working with the civil administration and efforts are on to stop such incidents (infiltration) completely,’’ he said.

“I want to assure all of you that our regiment is performing well in every field, be it Siachen Glacier, LoC with Pakistan, LAC with China, or our Rashtriya Rifles units in counter terrorist operations’’. “Everywhere the units of our regiment are showing their splendid performance,” he added.

Talking about the history of J&K Rifles, he said it has bravely fought every war since it was raised in 1820 under the leadership of Maharaja Gulab Singh, first Dogra ruler of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State. “Our Regiment hoisted its glory by conquering areas like Tibet, Gilgit, Yasin, Darel, Hunza Nagar, Chilas and Chitral under the leadership of General Zorawar Singh,’’ Lt General Dwivedi said.

“Recognising our bravery in Husainiwala operation of 4 JAK RIF and our bravery in history, we were made an integral part of the Indian Army as the Jammu and Kashmir regiment,’’ he said, adding that in 1963, the regiment was again renamed as Jammu and Kashmir RIFLES Regiment. Having set many examples of service to the country in every field, the regiment has been honoured with a total of 2,365 awards, including two Param Vir Chakras, two Ashok Chakras, one Padam Bhushan, five Maha Vir Chakras and 11 Kirti Chakras.

“Through this rally, we would like to honour those ex-servicemen because of whom we are free today,’’ he said. “We owe a debt to the heroes of this country, which can never be repaid, but the nation will always express gratitude and respect towards them.”

He said the purpose of this rally is to reach out to all the ex-servicemen, their next of kin and ‘veer naris’ and solve their problems related to pension and to get them medical help from medical experts, as also to disseminate the latest information about the welfare schemes run by the Indian Army, Central and state governments for them.