Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed a new commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Western Theatre Command which looks after the country’s border with India, amid the ongoing border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Sources in the Indian Army termed the appointment as “routine”.

Gen. Zhang Xudong succeeds 65-year-old Gen. Zhao Zongqi who is retiring.

President Xi has promoted four senior Chinese military and armed police officers. Among them was Gen. Zhang, commander of the Western Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

Not much is known about Gen. Zhang, especially his association with Western Theatre Command, as he reportedly served mostly in other theatre commands of the PLA.