In 1951, The battalion moved to the North-East where there were reports of Chinese infiltration across the McMahon Line. Pinto led a Long-range reconnaissance patrol through un-mapped territory to the McMahon Line along the Subansiri River Valley. In May 1954, he was selected to attend the 8th Staff Course at the Defence Services Staff College. On completion, Pinto was posted as Brigade Major of 191 Independent Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir. After completing his tenure as Brigade Major, he was posted to the Regimental Centre at Kota. While at the centre, he was selected to attend the 26th Senior Officers' Course, at the Infantry School, Mhow. Later in the year, Pinto was posted as Second-in-Command (Commandant designate) of 4th battalion, Brigade of the Guards (4 Guards). He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and took over 4 Guards in Jammu and Kashmir. After the tenure in J&amp;K, in 1962, he later took the battalion to Fort William, Kolkata which was to be their peace station. But, the Chinese invasion in North-East Frontier Agency had begun and the battalion moved to Sikkim.