India-China dispute live updates: LAC situation over past 4 months direct result of Chinese actions, says MEA

Indian armed forces will have to be prepared to meet immediate crisis and concurrently prepare for future: CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat

Read: Border situation in eastern Ladakh 'direct result' of Chinese action to effect unilateral change in status quo

India on Thursday said the situation witnessed in the border areas in eastern Ladakh over the past four months is a "direct result" of actions taken by China aimed at effecting unilateral change in the status quo of the region. External affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India is committed to resolve all issues through dialogue, noting the way ahead to address the issue is negotiations.

Read | China reacts to India banning 118 apps

China has expressed strong objection to India’s decision to ban 118 more Chinese apps, spokesperson of the China’s Ministry of Commerce, Gao Feng said at a press briefing on Thursday according to China’s state-run daily Global Times.India on Wednesday banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, including PUBG, amid the standoff with China at the Line of Actual Control."Banned mobile apps prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity, defense of India and public order", the India’s Information Technology ministry notification said adding that it has received several complaints of misuse of these Apps for stealing and transmitting data of users in unauthorized way to servers located outside India. Earlier India had banned 59 Chinese apps including the popular TikTok and WeChat.

Chinese are encircling Indian sub-continent: Sharad Pawar

NCP president Sharad Pawar today said the Chinese are "surreptitiously" encircling the Indian sub-continent, and India must keep a close watch on developments in Sri Lanka and Nepal. He had invited former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) for interaction with NCP MPs Supriya Sule, Praful Patel, Amol Kolhe and Vandana Chavan against the background of the stand-off in eastern Ladakh, Pawar tweeted. Read more

It is clear that situation we witnessed over past four months is direct result of actions by Chinese side: MEA on border row with China

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria reviews IAF's operational preparedness along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in view of the escalating border tensions with China: Officials

Xi Jinping using AI to tighten grip on China: Report

Chinese President Xi Jinping is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tighten his government's totalitarian control and is exporting the technology to other countries across the world, according to a report.

Amid ongoing tensions on India-China border, Indian Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria on Wednesday visited premier air bases in Eastern sector to review level of operational preparedness & capability enhancement. He also interacted with air warriors serving at these bases.

A brigadier-level meeting is being held between the Indian and Chinese Army at Chushul in Eastern Ladakh. The meeting is taking place in an open area and not in the usual border personnel meeting (BPM) hut: ANI quoting Indian Army Sources

Army Chief begins two-day visit to Ladakh

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane began a two-day visit to Ladakh on Thursday to carry out a comprehensive review of the security situation in the region in view of China's fresh attempts to change status quo along the southern bank of Pangong lake, official sources said. Gen Naravane will be briefed about the evolving situation by top Army commanders overseeing deployment of troops as well as India's combat readiness in the region, they said. "The Chief of Army Staff is on a two-day visit to Leh to review operational preparedness in Ladakh region," said a source.

Army chief General M M Naravane is on a two-day visit to Ladakh to review the latest operational situation amidst the heightened military tensions with China after Indian soldiers occupied heights on the southern bank of Pangong Tso-Chushul sector over the weekend.

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane is visiting Leh today.

He will be briefed by senior field commanders on the ground situation along the Line of Actual Control, ANI quoting Army Sources

China taking advantage of Covid-19 outbreak, India one such example: US Diplomat

India is among the countries that China has taken advantage of since the outbreak of the Covid-19 from Wuhan, US diplomat David Stilwell said on Wednesday. "What we have seen since the corona outbreak from Wuhan is it seems the PRC (People's Republic of China) is trying to take advantage of the situation, and India, I think, is one of those examples of that. So to our friends in Beijing, I would ask them to follow their commitment to resolve these things through peaceful means and dialogue," Stilwell said at a press briefing here. The Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs also reiterated Secretary Pompeo's remarks that the United States hopes for a peaceful resolution to the border standoff between India and China.

Meet ‘Establishment 22’, a special frontier force

Saturday night’s operation on the south bank of Pangong Tso has brought into limelight the possible role of ‘Establishment 22’, a secret force also known as the Special Frontier Force (SFF) under the administrative control of the Cabinet secretariat and the PMO. Senior Army officials acknowledged the presence of an SFF unit in eastern Ladakh but its interaction with the Army is minimal. Raised towards the end of the 1962 war, SFF’s commandos are drawn from Tibetan refugees settled in India. They were initially trained by the Intelligence Bureau, RAW and CIA for covert operations behind enemy lines. In the first few decades after it was raised, the force was used to keep an eye on Chinese plans to deploy nuclear warheads. Read more

Army strengthens its positions, from east Ladakh to Arunachal

The Army has further strengthened its positions in eastern Ladakh, as well as in other sectors right till Arunachal Pradesh, with an angry China pushing hard for Indian troops to vacate the heights they proactively occupied in the Pangong Tso-Chushul area over the weekend. The military consolidation includes occupying the heights over the ‘Finger-2 and 3’ (mountainous spurs) on the north bank of Pangong Tso to prevent any aggressive action by Chinese soldiers, who have refused to withdraw eastwards from the 8-km stretch they have occupied from ‘Finger-4’ to ‘Finger-8’ since early May. Read more

India keeping eye on PLA build-up at Depsang-DBO

The ridgeline around Pangong Tso ranges from 14,000 to 17,000 feet. Mountain warfare is about controlling the dominating heights,” the senior Army officer said. “With operational tensions running high, our soldiers have taken to the corresponding heights facing the ridgeline occupied by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over ‘Finger-4’ and beyond to the east,” the officer added. Amid this jostling for heights, India is also keeping track of major PLA buildup in the strategically-located Depsang-Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector to the north. A table-top plateau close to the critical Karakoram pass, Depsang is militarily much more important than Pangong Tso.

Meet ‘Establishment 22’, a special frontier force

Saturday night’s operation on the south bank of Pangong Tso has brought into limelight the possible role of ‘Establishment 22’, a secret force also known as the Special Frontier Force (SFF) under the administrative control of the Cabinet secretariat and the PMO.