No compromise was made to end stand off with China: Parnaik

Udhampur (JK): No compromise was made to end the stand off with China in the Ladakh sector, Army’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, K T Parnaik said today. “Ultimately, the whole issue was resolved with Chinese reverting to the pre-April 15 situation. In doing so, no compromise was made. We didn’t give in to any of their unusual demands. No structures were destroyed,” Parnaik told reporters here. [caption id=“attachment_877767” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters image[/caption] He said the Army had deliberately chosen not to make any public comments on the stand off when it was going on as the government had taken up the responsibility to do so. “While the stand off with China was going on, Army had deliberately chosen not to make any public comments. Reason is that the task of informing people was taken by the government and foreign office was dealing with it directly,” he said. Parnaik said China had violated the protocol when its troops put up tents in Daulat Old Begi sector in Ladakh region on April 15. “On April 15, China came in and put up tents in the area. They decided to stay put. It was violation of the protocol. The matter went up to the foreign office. We had series of meetings. Foreign office was in touch with Beijing to de-escalate the situation,” Parnaik said. He said the situation was de-escalated without any compromises. “I repeat that no compromise was made and Chinese reverted to the pre-April 15 situation. That is how the situation was de-escalated,” he said. The Army officer said he was not in favour of partial revocation of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). “There is no need to disempower Army by partial revocation of AFSPA,” he said, adding that Army had not misused AFSPA. On Amarnath yatra, he said, “We have got inputs on threat to the yatra.” PTI