Manjeet Singh Negi  

Top generals from the Indian and Chinese armies will be meeting later this week to defuse tensions between the two forces whose soldiers are in standoff situations along the Line of Actual Control. The Indian Army will be represented by Lieutenant General Harinder Singh

Meeting will focus on defusing tensions along the Line of Actual Control

India will be represented by Lt Gen Harinder Singh, the commander of 14 Corps

Top generals from the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army will be meeting later this week as the two forces look to bring down heightened border tensions that have led to a standoff between soldiers of the two countries. The meeting will be held between lieutenant general-ranked officers from the two armies on Saturday.

The meeting is being held around a month after a physical brawl between Indian and Chinese troops took place on the banks of Pangong Tso in Ladakh. The Line of Actual Control between India and China passes through this lake, though it's exact location is disputed, leading to troops from the two countries coming across each other's paths.

In the days after the Pangong Tso lake brawl, Indian and Chinese soldiers were reported to have gotten into standoff-like situations at several points along the LAC in Ladakh. The standoffs have taken place in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, and Demchok. The Chinese are believed to have built up a large force of soldiers and equipment, forcing the Indian Army to make matching deployments.

Multiple meetings between local commanders have not defused tensions, turning the focus to diplomatic talks in Delhi and Beijing and Saturday's parley between top generals from the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army.

The Indian Army will be represented at that military meeting by Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, who is the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps. Nicknamed the 'Fire and Fury Corps', the 14 Corps is part of the Udhampur-based Northern Command of the Indian Army and faces the "most hostile terrain, weather & altitude challenges".

An expert in counter insurgency, Lt Gen Harinder Singh took over the command of the 14 Corps in October last year. Prior to that, he held several crucial positions in the Indian Army, including the posts of Director General of Military Intelligence, Director General of Military Operations, and Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement.

Lieutenant General Harinder Singh assumed command of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ relieving Lieutenant General YK Joshi today. Troops of Fire & Fury Corps IndianArmy face the most hostile terrain, weather & altitude challenges which no army in the world faces. Lt Gen Harinder Singh has also served in Africa as part of a United Nations mission and has seen combat experience in Jammu and Kashmir.

An alumnus of the National Defense Academy, Lt Gen Harinder Singh was commissioned into the Army's Maratha Light Infantry. Later during his military career, Lt Gen Singh graduated from the Defense Service Staff College (DSSC).

Lt Gen Singh was also a senior research fellow at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, and at the S. Rajaratanam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore.

Courtesy: India Today: 6th June, 2020