Indian Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh Wednesday visited Leh in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir to witness an ongoing military exercise along the China border.
General Singh, along with wife Bharti, was at the headquarters of the Leh-based 14 Corps and was accompanied by Northern Army commander Lieutenant General K.T. Parnaik, army officers said here.
The army chief was also briefed on the operational preparedness of the formation and its 50,000 troops by 14 Corps General Officer Commanding Lieutenant General Ravi Dastane.
“The army chief attended the yearly routine exercise and was briefed on the operational aspects of the corps. He interacted with the officers and troops at the headquarters, during which he emphasized on the requirement of extensive combat training, while braving the hardship of weather and terrain,” the officers said.
China occupies 38,000 sq km of Aksai Chin in the 1962 war with India, while Pakistan ceded another 5,180 sq km of northern Kashmir to Beijing under a 1963 pact.
India maintains that Aksai Chin in Ladakh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are part of its territory in the border state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Bharti Singh, in a separate function, felicitated 30 widows of army personnel from the Ladakh region.
