Indian armed forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard the nation be it at land, air or the ocean, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Monday. The comments were made amid India’s standoff with the neighbouring China in Ladakh.
“We are in a standoff situation in Ladakh and based on that there is some development activity which has been ongoing in Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Every nation will continue to prepare for ensuring its security based on their strategic interest,” news agency ANI quoted Rawat as saying.
Rawat also confirmed that “high levels of preparation” are underway on land, sea and air as “China attempts to change the status quo on Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the northern border.”
Underlining the importance of technology in the armed forces, the Chief of Defence Staff said, “Time has come now to look at the future of warfighting imbibing technology into our systems. We have got adequate forces to counter any threat or challenges that we may face on northern borders.”
The comments come as India authorised the defence forces to enhance their stocking of weapons and ammunition for a 15-day intense war as the country is in the middle of conflict with China over border row in eastern Ladakh, news agency ANI had reported on Sunday.
The authorisation to increase the weapon and ammunition reserves to minimum 15-I levels from the earlier existing 10-day stocking is to prepare the defence forces for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan.
The three services were also given the emergency financial powers to procure items worth Rs 300 crore to buy any equipment which they felt could be of use to them for fighting wars. The defence forces have been buying a number of spares, weapons, missiles and systems for effectively taking on the two adversaries.
India has been engaged with China in the Eastern Ladakh sector since May where transgressions have been reported from the Chinese side at multiple locations along the LAC.