Journalism of Courage
Pointing out that the challenges in Manipur have not disappeared and it will take some time for the situation to settle down, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, on Tuesday said that the armed forces and Assam Rifles have done an “excellent job”, and “may have saved a large number of lives”.
On Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) deployment along the borders, Gen Chauhan said resolving the border issue is a “different thing”; the immediate aim is to “go back to your claim lines”. He said, “We have been able to do that in all places, except two — Demchok and Depsang.”
The CDS’s remarks on the situation in Manipur came at a time Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a visit to assess the situation in the north-east Indian state, where clashes have broken out sporadically between members of Kuki and Meitei communities over the past several weeks.
Speaking with the media on the sidelines of the Passing Out Parade of the 144th course of National Defence Academy on Tuesday morning, Gen Chauhan said the Army, along with Assam Rifles, was deployed in Manipur for counterinsurgency operations before 2020. But since the challenges along the northern borders (with China) were “far more”, he said “we were able to withdraw the Army”. This withdrawal was also possible because the insurgency situation had “normalised”, he added.
“The situation now in Manipur is not insurgency-related but is a clash between two ethnicities [ethnic groups],” the CDS said. ”It’s a law and order situation that we are helping the state government with. The armed forces and Assam Rifles have done an excellent job and may have saved a large number of lives.”
He said, “The challenges in Manipur have not disappeared — it will take some time. Hopefully, this will settle and the state government will be able to do the job with the help of CAPF [paramilitary Central Armed Police Forces], etc, and the armed forces should be back to looking at challenges at the northern border, which have not disappeared.”
Earlier, in his address to the new cadets, Gen Chauhan said, “We are living in a time when the global security situation is not at its best, (and) international geopolitical order is in a state of flux. The war in Europe, continued deployment of the PLA along the northern borders and political and economic turmoil in our immediate neighbourhood — all [this] present a different kind of challenge for the Indian military. The armed forces are committed to maintain the legitimacy of our claims on the Line of Control [with Pakistan] and play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in our immediate and extended neighbourhood.”
Asked during the interaction about PLA deployment along the borders, Gen Chauhan said, “Armed forces are taking all possible steps to make sure there is no untoward incident. The idea in this situation is we should be able to maintain legitimacy of our claims. We should be able to patrol areas which we did before the crisis [in Ladakh] in 2020. Resolving the border issue is a different thing; right now the aim is to go back to your claim lines. We have been able to do that in all places, except two — Demchok and Depsang. Negotiations are on and hopefully that will also come about.”
Until that time, he said, there is a “need to maintain constant vigil” on the border, and “while doing that we need to see that we don’t unnecessarily create any crisis”.
