Whatever was done in Galwan should not get repeated: Army chief

Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi inspects the the 77th Indian Army Day Parade held at Bombay Engineer Group Centre, Khadki, in Pune on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Stressing that special attention has been given to develop modern equipment and critical infrastructure at the northern border, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Wednesday (January 15, 2025z that “whatever was done in Galwan should not get repeated”.

At the 77th Army Day Parade held at Pune this year, the Army showcased its newly inducted robotic mules, 100 of which have been inducted and 12 were part of the parade. An all-woman Agniveer contingent of the Corps of Military Police and an all-girl contingent of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) were also part of the parade along with various marching contingents of the Army. A Nepali Army band joined the Indian Army Day parade for the first time.

“We have to make sure that whatever was done in Galwan should not get repeated… It means our eyes and ears and a whole-of-nation approach should be focussed towards that. Whether it’s a diplomatic effort or military effort or even MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs), in terms of CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) effort, we all should converge on this issue and make sure that we should not get any such surprises in the future,” Gen. Dwivedi said speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 77th Army Day Parade.

To a question on the situation along the country’s northern border, he said that they are safe because the “Indian Army is sitting there with required deployment to hold the fort”.

Addressing the rank and file after reviewing the parade, Gen. Dwivedi said the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) is maintained but “attempts to infiltrate continue”. “We will continue on the path to make the Indian Army a modern, agile, adaptable, technology-enabled and capable force in the future,” he stated.

In addition to the several equipment and systems that were part of the parade, there was also a fly-past by three Su-30 MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The Army Day is marked to commemorate the transfer of command of the Indian Army from Gen. Francis Butcher to Gen. K.M. Cariappa (later Field Marshal) on January 15, 1949.

In the first combat deaths along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 45 years, 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers were killed in a violent clash at Galwan in Ladakh in June 2020, just a month after the standoff began in eastern Ladakh which saw unprecedented mobilisation and reorientation of the Indian Army.

In November 2024, both sides undertook disengagement from Depsang and Demchok, the last two remaining friction points, and have since resumed patrolling and grazing in these areas. The next step is to work out new patrolling norms along the LAC and resume patrolling at other friction points — Galwan, Patrolling Point 15 and 17A in Gogra Hot Springs area, North and South banks of Pangong Tso, following de-escalation and de-induction has to be agreed upon.