In this July 5, 2006 file photo, a Chinese soldier, left, and an Indian soldier put into place a barbed wire fence removed temporarily for Chinese officials to cross back to their country after a meeting with their Indian counterparts. (AP)
India-China Border News Live Update: The Corps Commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies will on Tuesday hold a meeting at the Chushul border point as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. This will be the third meeting between XIV Corps Commander Lt General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military Region Commander Major General Liu Lin. They will meet at the border point in Chushul — the June 6 and June 22 meetings were held at Moldo on the Chinese side.
At their last meeting, the Corps Commanders reached “mutual consensus to disengage” while discussing “friction areas” such as Galwan Valley, Hot Corps Commanders meeting at Chushul today to end stalemate Springs and Pangong Tso.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to address the nation on the current standoff with China at 4 pm today. His address will come two days after his monthly Mann ki Baat radio programme, during which he had reiterated the country’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, a day after the Centre’s ban on 59 mobile apps, TikTok on Tuesday said it is in the process of complying with the government’s order on blocking of the app, and asserted that it has not shared information of Indian users with any foreign government, including that of China.
The government on Monday banned popular app TikTok among others.
Taking a swipe at the Modi government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Facts don’t lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China."
Citing the “emergent nature of threats” from mobile applications, including popular ones of Chinese origin such as TikTok, ShareIt, UCBrowser, Club Factory and CamScanner, the Centre Monday banned 59 apps based on information that they were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity”, defence, security and public order. “The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India,” the government said in a statement on Monday.
A day after the Centre banned popular Chinese apps, TikTok on Tuesday issued a statement which said: "We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government."
Expressing solidarity with the people of India, a top US senator has said India had made it clear that it would not be bullied by Beijing, PTI reported. Republican Senator Marco Rubio spoke with India's ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, to "express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted and lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of China". "India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing," the senator from Florida tweeted. On the Senate Floor, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for the second time in less than a week, accused China of aggression against India. A day earlier, Senator Tom Cotton slammed China for its aggression against India. "China has resumed its submarine intrusions in the Japanese contiguous zones and picked deadly fights with India at high altitude," the top Republican Senator had said.
Army sources pointed to a “trust deficit” between the two sides following the Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed on June 15. Chinese troops, sources said, have continued to build infrastructure near Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley, and have also made incursions in the Depsang Plains, close to Daulat Beg Oldie, India’s strategic base near the Karakoram Pass. To mirror the Chinese build-up, a top source in the Army said, additional air defence elements have been deployed in Ladakh, and the Army has moved additional divisions to the region. “Wherever we are deployed, air defence is something integral. It is an inherent part of deployment. So, air defence having been deployed is natural,” the source said
At their last meeting, the Corps Commanders reached “mutual consensus to disengage” while discussing “friction areas” such as Galwan Valley, Hot Corps Commanders meeting at Chushul today to end stalemate Springs and Pangong Tso.
Corps Commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies are scheduled to meet today morning at the Chushul border point as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. This will be the third meeting between XIV Corps Commander Lt General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military Region Commander Major General Liu Lin. They will meet at the border point in Chushul — the June 6 and June 22 meetings were held at Moldo on the Chinese side. Follow our live blog for all the latest updates on the border row between India and China.