No cause for friction on Arunachal border: Army Chief

Bangalore, Nov 24 (UNI) Despite China repeating its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, Army Chief General J J Singh today said that there was no cause for friction on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in that state, but in fact the two countries are set to enhance their military to military co-operation.

Speaking to newspersons after presenting the Presidential Colours to Pioneer Corps, headquartered here, he said confidence building measures were being taken between the armies of China and India which would engine a greater trust.

''Situation on LAC in Arunachal is absolutely peaceful and stable.

There is excellent relations between the soldiers of the two countries and they even share each other's National Day celebrations. The two armies are conducting joint adventure activities by travelling across the borders and the next stage will be joint exercises,'' he said.

Gen Singh agreed that were areas where the two countries had different perceptions, as mentioned by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament, and it was understandable. This week's visit of the Chinese Premier Hu Jintao had been successful and the two countries had shown the path that will lead to resolution of problems in a peaceful manner, he said.

''Apart from Arunachal, I recently visited some other places in North East and Kashmir as well. The situation in all these areas is stable and well under control. We are trying out our best to help civil administration to bring back normalcy in troubled states. We will be happy if problems are solved by dialogue and level of violence is brought down,'' he said.

On Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil disclosing the terrorist threat to Defence, Nuclear and IT sectors, Gen. Singh said the army was always on alert to thwart the evil-designs of the 'invisible enemy'.

The Army Chief said all departments of the Indian Army would be moderanised as per a prospective plan drafted by the authorities.

"This will be a modernisation of the Army in all dimensions. We are looking at the futuristic soldier. We will equip the infantry soldier with next generation weapon systems and communication equipment. The future war will be won by the side which will adopt high technology and better fighting capabilities. We are gearing up for that type of war fighting capability," he added.

Genl Singh said the future Indian soldier would be IT enabled.

With the country being world leaders in IT, it should be adapted in army as well to give it a decisive advantage over the adversary. "We are going in for that," he said.

Agreeing that the army had faced shortage of officers for quite some time, Gen. Singh said it would gradually make up the difficiency. "We have a shortfall of 11,000 to 12,000 officers.

Actually, there is no shortage of volunteers wanting to join the armed forces. We are stepping up the capacity of both NDA and OTA and also increasing the intake of women officers. All our academies and Staff Colleges are going at full strength. We will never let the standard of the training downgraded nor the duration lowered, he added.

UNI