Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews Ladakh situation with CDS Bipin Rawat, three service chiefs

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed the situation in Ladakh with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three services chiefs amid the deescalated border stand-off with China.

According to sources, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, CDS Rawat and the three service chiefs met to assess the ground situation on the Line of Actual Control and what needs to be done.

This was the second review meeting held by the Defence Minister within a week`s span. The first one was on June 8, two days after a Lt General-level meeting between the Indian Army and Chinese People`s Liberation Army. 

The second one took place on Friday, two days after a Major General-level meeting between India and Chinese military.

"Latest assessments on the Line of Actual Control ground situation was done after military talks," a Defence Ministry source was quoted as saying by PTI.

During the meeting, CDS General Rawat briefed Singh Minister about the troop deployments at the stand-off sites in eastern Ladakh.

Rajnath Singh also took a review of ground situation across the entire LAC, including Arunachal Pradesh. He also discussed about ongoing infrastructure work at the LAC.

The review meeting was called on the heels of repeated dialogue between India and China during which the two sides agreed to resolve the border row with continuing diplomatic and military engagements.

The two sides recently agreed to continue diplomatic and military engagements for an “early resolution” of the stand-off between border troops, according to Ministry of External Affairs.

On Thursday, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "It was agreed that an early resolution of the situation would be in keeping with the guidance of the leaders."

"The two sides are, therefore, maintaining their military and diplomatic engagements to peacefully resolve the situation at the earliest as also to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas. This is essential for the further development of Indian-China bilateral relations," he added.

Both sides have had discussions at military and diplomatic levels on the face-off. At the level of militaries, the Corps Commanders of India and China met at Chushul-Moldo region on June 6 and again on June 10, talks happened at the Major General level.

The "meeting reportedly ended on a positive trajectory and more similar meetings between both the country forces` delegates will take place".

On Wednesday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that both sides are taking steps to ease the situation along the borders.

"Recently the diplomatic and military channels of China and India held effective communication on the situation along the border and reached positive consensus. The two sides are following this consensus to take actions to ease the situation along the borders," the spokesperson said.

Last month’s violent confrontations between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh and north Sikkim triggered a military build-up on both sides of the LAC that stretched from Ladakh to Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh,

China increased the deployment of troops and artillery and Indian Army too deployed and moved artillery in equal numbers. 

However, both countries have now decided to de-induct and de-escalate troops and guns and move backwards.