On Monday morning, the newly appointed Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi visited the Galwan Valley and ‘ground zero’ in forward areas in Ladakh. Confirming this to Financial Express Online, Indian Army said, “The visit was undertaken for familiarization by Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi after taking over as Army Commander.”
For the first time, post the deadly clash between the Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley (June 2020), the Indian Army shared photographs of the Army Commander interacting with the soldiers and the country’s flag in the backdrop as well as the Dogra flag fluttering.
In a tweet, the Indian Army said that the visit by the top officer to “ground zero at forward areas” along Line of Actual Control (LAC) was for reviewing the security situation. And, “appreciated the professionalism and operational response towards the evolving threat matrix”, the tweet stated.
The location of the interaction with the soldiers was not indicated in the tweets on the social media; however, sources confirmed the location to be Galwan Valley and the soldiers are from Dogra Regiment.
More about the Army Commander’s visit
According to sources, during his visit to the forward postings along LAC, Lt Gen Dwivedi also interacted with officers and men from the Special Frontier Force (SFF). This special elite force has predominantly ethnic Tibetans.
The Army commander who is in-charge of Ladakh also visited the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO). As has been reported earlier in Financial Express Online, this is one of the areas which the Chinese have wanted to dominate for a long time.
Later at the Fire and Fury Corps (14 Corps Headquarters, headed by Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta) based in Leh, the Army commander was given a detailed briefing related to the situation along the LAC.