India-China border standoff: Rajnath Singh, Army Chief to review situation in Leh on Friday, says report

An army convoy moves on Manali-Leh highway, in Manali. (Courtesy: PTI Photo)

India-China border standoff: In the backdrop of the ongoing tensions at the border with China in Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane will be visiting Leh on Friday, reports said. The Defence Minister and the Army Chief will be reviewing the security situation along the border regions in Ladakh in view of the Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the reports added.

Earlier in the day, PTI had reported that during the ongoing talks, both the Indian and Chinese armies have stressed on the need for de-escalation to end the seven-week bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh. The report quoted government sources as saying this after the nearly 12-hour corps commander-level meeting that took place on Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s talks that took place on the Indian side of the LAC in Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh, PTI sources said that both the Indian and Chinese sides emphasised on reducing tensions along the LAC. The report further added that more meetings — both at military and diplomatic levels — are expected to arrive at a “mutually agreeable solution”, sources said.

PTI sources stated that the meeting on Tuesday began at 11 AM and continued for almost 12 hours, during which both sides also resolved to sincerely implement the disengagement understanding reached in the first corps commander-level talks on June 6.

The report quoted informed sources as saying that both sides, as a priority, emphasised on the need for an expeditious, phased and stepwise de-escalation.

The Tuesday meeting was the third senior military commander level engagement held to discuss matters pertaining to de-escalation from the border areas and disengagement at the sites of the faceoff between the troops along the LAC.

At the meeting, the Indian delegation was headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh, while the Chinese side was led by the Commander of the Tibet Military District Major General Liu Lin.

Following a violent clash that took place in Galwan Valley on June 15, the Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh. Tension peaked when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the face-off between the troops. Reports have stated that the Chinese PLA also suffered casualties in the violent clash.