LAC pullback slow as there is suspicion on both sides: CDS Bipin Rawat

Chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday said the troop disengagement process with China in eastern Ladakh was slow since there continued to be suspicion on both sides, even as India’s top Army commanders are slated to meet here next week to review the operational situation along the Line of Actual Control.

Noting that China was a bigger security challenge to India than Pakistan, Gen Rawat said it had been communicated to Beijing that restoration of status quo in eastern Ladakh as it existed in April 2020 was the ‘bottomline” for India.

If that happens, there “will be some kind of belief in each other, satisfaction that it's not likely to lead to further escalation,” the CDS told a TV channel.


“I am quite sure both sides are looking to return to status quo ante,” he said. Gen Rawat’s statement comes ahead of the Army commanders’ conference from June 16 to 18, which will be chaired by Army chief General M M Naravane.