China increased its defense budget by 6.6% to $ 179 billion on May 22.
Beijing:
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday ordered the military to step up combat readiness by viewing the worst-case scenarios and asked them to stand up for the country’s sovereignty. Although he did not mention any specific threats, his comments came amid a confrontation between soldiers from India and China on the real line of control (LAC).
Xi, 66, who is also the ruling secretary general of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the head of the two million-strong army with life-long prospects, made the remarks during a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force during the current parliamentary session in Beijing.
Xi ordered the military to think about the worst-case scenarios, step up training and preparation for combat, deal quickly and effectively with all kinds of complex situations, and resolutely protect national sovereignty, security and the interests of development, a reported the official Xinhua news agency, without mentioning any specific problem that threatened the country.
Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have recently seen a significant military accumulation of the Indian and Chinese armies, in a clear signal of intensification of the tensions and hardening of the respective positions by the two parties, even two weeks after their engagement. two separate face-offs. The LAC, nearly 3,500 km long, is de facto the border between the two countries.
China’s military friction with the United States has also increased, with the U.S. Navy stepping up patrols in the disputed South China Sea as well as the Taiwan Strait. Washington and Beijing are also engaged in a war of words over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
China’s second-largest military spender after the United States on May 22 increased its defense budget by 6.6% to $ 179 billion, almost triple that of India, the smallest increase of the past few years amid massive disruption to the communist giant. economy through the COVID-19 pandemic.
India said the Chinese military is hampering normal patrols of its troops along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim and firmly refuted Beijing’s claim that the escalation of tensions between the two armies had been triggered by an intrusion of Indian forces on the Chinese side.
The Department of External Affairs said that all Indian activities were carried out on its side of the border, saying that India has always taken a very responsible approach to border management. At the same time, he said, India was deeply committed to protecting its sovereignty and security.
“Any suggestion that Indian troops have undertaken activities throughout the LAC region in the western sector or the Sikkim sector is not correct. Indian troops are fully aware of the alignment of the effective line of control in the Indo-Chinese border areas and comply with them scrupulously. “, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during an online press briefing last week.
(With PTI entries)
