No repeat of 1962: Army chief
PTI
NEW DELHI, NOV 7
Army Chief General V K Singh has said India was “not sure” of China’s intentions for developing infrastructure along the borders, but a repeat of the 1962 aggression was “never” possible.
Describing the regional security situation as “fragile”, Singh said Pakistan Army’s India-centric posturing and diversion of US counter-terrorism military aid against India were matters of concern.
“China is doing a great amount of infrastructure development, which it says is for locals of the area. No bones about it, no crib about it. But our problem is we are not very sure about the intentions. And when intentions change, with this capability, things can go wrong. And that is what is a matter of concern,” he said.
“But, there is going to be no 1962. Never,” he said, referring to the Chinese aggression of Indian territory that year.
Singh reasoned that he did not see the kind of signages of 1962 at present, as there were no military build up or territorial claims that were witnessed just before the only time the two countries went to war.
“Absolutely, with full conviction,” he said, when asked if he was confident there would be no repeat of history.
“Things are better than what it was in 1962,” he said, noting that situation along the borders was peaceful “to an extent” and the stand-offs were within the known parameters governed by Confidence Building Measures, with “nothing going astray”.
