Army vice-chief designate Lt Gen M M Naravane said on Tuesday that if China transgressed the "grey zone" at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) 100 times, the Indian Army did so on 200 occasions, as he claimed Beijing acted like a "regional bully" during the Doklam stand-off.
Naravane, currently the General Officer Commanding- in-Chief, Eastern Command, said China must realise that the Indian Army is not what it was at the time of the Sino-Indian war in 1962.
"The Doklam standoff gave a clear signal that the Indian Armed forces are no pushovers," he said during an interaction on 'Defending our Borders' at the Bharat Chamber of Commerce here.
Asked by former Air Chief Air Marshal Arup Raha, who is a member of the chamber's defence sub-committee, about the lessons from the 1962 conflict and measures taken after that to overcome the problems, Naravane said, "We are no longer the Army of 1962. If China says don't forget history, we also have to tell them the same thing."
"That (the reports) is also not totally incorrect. There have been developments on either side....which have been throughout the year, year on year. They have made two new barracks, we have also made two new barracks. They have maintained their roads, we have also maintained our roads."
Replying to a question by Raha that transgressions at the LAC by China have increased, Naravane said,"If we say that he (China) is coming into the grey zone 100 times, then we have gone in the grey zone 200 times. So, let us not think it is one-way. I am sure in their war room they are also complaining that we have done this so many times."
When asked about an article published in a Chinese newspaper that the country would have to fight six wars by 2050, including one against India over Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as its own territory, Naravane said, "It is quite a tall task they have set for themselves."
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