Indian soldiers deployed in the “Ladak region” are in a state of inaction as a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks sweeps across the country, but India is still pushing ahead with infrastructure projects along the China-India border, Indian media The Print reported on May 1.
Reported that the Indian Army Northern Command has implemented a series of measures to ensure that the coronavirus outbreak will not affect the Indian army’s operational capabilities. “We have to protect ourselves from the second wave of outbreaks, ” one source said in an interview. Although the vaccine coverage of the soldiers deployed in the Ladakh area is almost 100 per cent, we remain on the move because we cannot afford any surprises. In the Ladakh area, the indian army maintains continuous surveillance through drones and other means, the source said.
Reported that the Indian front-line forces to take measures include the cancellation of all non-emergency leave, only the necessary rotation of troops, limited operations and as far as possible to avoid physical contact. Sources said infrastructure activities in the Ladak region were still under way, despite a new outbreak in India. “Summer is the time for us to build infrastructure, including residential and logistical construction to meet the increased deployment of troops in the region, as well as some transport routes that need to be repaired,” a source said.
Sources said that while the PLA had disengaged from the front lines of Bangong Lake and the Galvan Valley, it was actually closer to the line than it had been before April 2020, meaning it would take less time if the PLA needed to return to the front line. The source said India needed to have the infrastructure in place to ensure that the Indian army could do the same. On April 12th The Print published an article saying that the PLA’s defense and operational capabilities on the China-India border had improved significantly compared with previous summers.
On April 10, major Long Shaohua, press spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s western war zone, made a speech on the 11th round of china-India military-level talks, and Long Shaohua said he hoped India would cherish the positive trend of easing and cooling in the border areas between China and India. “It needs to be viewed from a different perspective,” The Print quoted a source as saying. Cherishing does not mean that there will be no further action. That means some results on both sides, and hopefully more positive news will come. ”
Meanwhile, The Print quoted sources in India’s defense and security services as saying that China and India are unlikely to hold a new round of military-level talks in the near future because of the coronavirus outbreak in The Print, but that Indian military chiefs and local Indian officials are still in contact with The Chinese through a hotline.
According to data released by the Ministry of Health of India, as of 8 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Beijing time) on May 3, 368,147 new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India in the past 24 hours, with more than 300,000 new cases recorded in a single day for 12 consecutive days, with a cumulative total of 1992,5604 confirmed cases and 218,959 deaths.
