Following Oting killings, Army reviewing SOP on ground

New Delhi, 15 April (MTNews): Following the Center’s denial of permission to prosecute 30 soldiers allegedly engaged in the execution of Oting incident, and in what can be considered as a first reaction from the army, the Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen RP Kalita stated, “The Army is reviewing the implementation of the amended Standard Operating Procedure for counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast which were put in place following the botched operation in Nagaland in December 2021.”

“It was an unfortunate incident, an army court of inquiry took place and that has been finalized. Unfortunately, because of the stay order passed by the Supreme Court, the proceedings have been stayed completely. Alongside the inquiry, internally we have analyzed the mistakes in that operation and taken a comprehensive review of the conduct of operation in those areas, and whatever necessary amendments had to be done on the SOPs for Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and upper Assam were already put in place. And we are now following up on how the troops are following the amended SOPs to carry out operations,” Lt Gen RP Kalita said.

Welcoming the reduction of areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the North East, Lt. Gen Kalita said, “As the situation further improves, more and more places will see AFSPA rollback, and it’s a welcome step.”

Speaking on the contentious Line of Actual Control with China, the Eastern Army chief said that the ‘situation is stable’ and that, “Any emerging situations or minor misunderstandings that have come in are being resolved through border talks by established protocols.”

“There are robust methods existing and followed by both sides. Vibrant border villages are key for the border areas, there is a lot of focus on stopping the migration of the border population,” Kalita said.

He also admitted that they are aware of the dual-use infrastructure built up by the Chinese all along the border, and revealed that ‘our own capabilities are enhanced as we are also improving our infrastructure in border areas’.

“Attempts from both sides have been to resolve disputes by talks. All the developments across the LAC are being closely monitored at different levels of our establishment so that we are well-prepared,” he said.

The Eastern Army commander also added that the focus is also on the India-Myanmar border and that the Assam rifles are monitoring the situation very closely at the India-Myanmar border.

“No part of Indian Territory is being used by any of Myanmar’s rebel groups, there have been a few cases of bombings near the border against rebel groups, and we are constantly monitoring the situation,” Lt. Gen Kalita added.