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| Chief Of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat |
Amid ongoing tensions at the LAC, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the country's armed forces are capable of handling aggressive Chinese actions in "best suitable ways".
"Of late, India has been seeing some aggressive actions by China but we are capable of handling these in the best suitable ways," Rawat was quoted as saying by PTI at an interactive session at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Rawat's remarks come after the Ministry of External Affairs said the situation witnessed in the border areas in eastern Ladakh over the past four months is a "direct result" of actions taken by China aimed at effecting unilateral change in the status quo of the region.
In a warning to Pakistan, Rawat said the country will suffer "heavy losses" if it attempts any misadventure against India taking advantage of the border row with China.
"If any threat develops around our northern borders, Pakistan could take advantage of that and create some trouble for us. Therefore, we have taken adequate precautions to ensure that any such misadventure by Pakistan is thwarted and they are not able to succeed in their mission. In fact, they may suffer heavy losses should they attempt any misadventure," Rawat said, addressing a webinar organised by an American think-tank.
The Chief of Defence Staff also attacked Pakistan for its proxy war against India and "pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir, attempted to spread terrorism in other parts of the country".
The fresh attempt by China to change the status quo in the Pangong lake area is the first major incident in the area after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.
China also suffered casualties but is yet to make the details public. According to an American intelligence report it was 35.
India and China have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks in the last two-and-half months but no significant headway has been made for a resolution to the border row in eastern Ladakh.
Source: One India