Defence minister's Arunachal Pradesh visit source of motivation: Army Chief Bipin Rawat

NEW DELHI: A day after China objected to defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Tuesday the visit was a “source of motivation” which was meant to understand the issues of soldiers deployed in the forward areas.

“Defence minister visits troops in forward areas to meet them in person, to understand the various issues that may be bothering them, and I think visits by raksha mantri are always a source of motivation,” he said in response to a question on China’s objection, at the sidelines of an event here.

He added: “The raksha mantri has to visit those areas where our troops are deployed. After all it is the Ministry of Defence which is providing support to us.”


On Monday, China reacted angrily to Sitharaman’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying there is a dispute in the eastern section of the Line of Actual Control. China said the visit to the “disputed” region will not be conducive to peace along LAC. China maintains that Arunachal is a part of South Tibet, a claim which is not accepted by India.

On Sunday, Sitharaman had visited forward army posts in Arunachal and an air force base in eastern Assam.

The visit followed her visits to Bomdila and Itanagar in Arunachal. She visited the army post at Kibithu, Arunachal, and was briefed on the situation and defence preparedness along the Line of Actual Control. She also interacted with the troops. She visited the eastern air base of Chabua, where she took stock of the operational preparedness. The strategic base has combat assets, including Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft and modern missiles.