AGENCIES

India is not looking to reduce the number of troops along the northern frontier in winter, the country’s army chief said yesterday adding that it will review summer deployment based on outcome of negotiations with China.

Four years ago, 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed during border clashes following which both sides stopped patrolling several points on the border in Ladakh to avoid new confrontations, while moving tens of thousands of new troops and military equipment closer to the freezing mountainous region.

New Delhi and Beijing reached a deal in October last year to resolve the four-year military stand-off and few days later they pulled back troopsfrom the disputed border.

“During winter deployment, the number of troops come down. So therefore, at least in the winter strategy, we are not looking forward to any reduction of troops,” army chief Upendra Dwivedi told reporters in New Delhi.

Dwivedi said a decision on summer deployment would depend on how negotiations and talks with China progress, reports Reuters.

“When it comes to the summer strategy, we’ll take a review based on that time, how many negotiations and meetings have taken place,” he said.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic Himalayan road tunnel yesterday, pushing all-weather access northwards towards contested high-altitude border zones with rivals China and Pakistan.

The Z-Morh or Sonmarg tunnel, stretching 6.4 kilometres (four miles) beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for between four to six months a year, is part of a wider infrastructure drive in border zones, reports AFP.

It helps connect Indian-administered Kashmir with Ladakh, acting as a stepping stone in opening the Srinagar-Leh Highway all year round to allow rapid deployment of military supplies.

India and China share a poorly demarcated border which runs along the Himalayas and has been a source of tension between the neighbours for decades, including a brief but bloody war in 1962.