The meeting assumes importance as the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh has become very sensitive as Indian troops outflanked the Chinese over the night of Aug 29/30 and has now established its dominance in the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
India has already made it clear that it wants to resolve the outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western sector through dialogue. (File image)
Ahead of his departure to Moscow to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meet scheduled for September 3, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The meeting assumes importance as the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh has become very sensitive as Indian troops outflanked the Chinese over the night of August 29/30 and have now established their dominance in the southern bank of Pangong Tso. At the meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and the Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) were present.
The DGMO gave a detailed briefing about the situation in the region and the preparedness of the armed forces to deal with any misadventure by the Chinese side.
Will Rajnath Singh meet his Chinese counterpart at SCO?
No, there will be no bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe who is going to attend the SCO meet.
Singh will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu on the sidelines and the agenda of talks would focus on expediting the defence deals between the two countries, as well as, matters of mutual interest. The ongoing border tensions between India and China will feature in the talks.
MEA’s Response to the recent developments between India and China Border issues
The official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Anurag Srivastava, said: “The Chinese side has again violated the understanding reached between the two sides to ensure peace and tranquillity as per bilateral agreements and protocol. However, Chinese have engaged in provocative military manoeuvres in the late night of August 29/30th in an attempt to change the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake.”
The Indian Army had released a statement on Monday outlining the action taken in response to the Chinese belligerence along the LAC. The statement indicated the defensive action of the Indian Army against the Chinese and the measures taken to safeguard the interests and to defend territorial integrity.
According to the MEA spokesperson, “On August 31, even as the Brigade level talks were going on between India and China to de-escalate the situation, the Chinese troops once again engaged in provocative action. It was due to the timely defensive action that the Indian side prevented the attempts to unilaterally change the status quo.”
“The matter of recent aggressive and provocative action has been taken up with the Chinese side through both diplomatic and military channels. We have urged them to discipline their frontline troops,” he said.
India has already made it clear that it wants to resolve the outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western sector through dialogue.
India has already made it clear that it wants to resolve the outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western sector through dialogue. (File image)
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