Kolkata: The Chief of Defence Staff  General Bipin Rawat on Monday said that China’s attempt of “changing the status quo” at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) necessitated high levels of preparations on the land, sea, and in the air.

Speaking at the launch of the Indian Navy’s Project 17A stealth frigate Himgiri built by the PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd, in Kolkata Rawat also said that concerted efforts must be made to ensure that there was no disruption of trade via sea due to piracy, terrorism, and conflict.

He also said that Indian forces are well-equipped to deal with any eventuality, and similar activities are being undertaken in the country. “We are locked in a stand-off in Ladakh. There is some development activity which has been going on in Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Every nation will continue to make preparations to boost its security based on its strategic interests.  “I don’t think there should be much concern in that because we, on our side, are also carrying out similar activities,” Rawat told reporters after the launch of indigenously built state-of-the-art stealth frigate ‘Himgiri’ at Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers here.

The Indian Army, following the Doklam stand-off in 2017, has taken measures to ensure that the situation does not escalate there any further, he maintained. Indian forces are carefully watching the activities of the PLA at Doklam, where the armies of the two most populous countries in the world were engaged in a 73-day eyeball-to-eyeball stand-off in 2017.

Talking about the continuous ceasefire violation by Pakistan, he said India is fully prepared to deal with it and that it is the other side which should be more concerned about carrying out such activities.

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