The frontline troops of China and India have "completed" disengagement at most locations of their border, a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday, adding the situation on the ground is easing.
'They also agreed that for the overall development of bilateral relations it was essential to maintain enduring peace and tranquillity in the border areas,' the MEA said in a statement.
With the arrival of the new batch, the number of Rafale aircraft has increased to eight. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
'Tensions and dialogue are likely to go hand-in-hand with China.' 'The goal should be to cultivate power so that one can negotiate from a position of strength.'
The destabilising and corrosive behaviour of the Chinese Community Party in the Indo-Pacific region is simply not helpful and some of the defence infrastructure that is being set up by China near its border with India is alarming, US Army's Pacific Commanding General Charles A Flynn said on Wednesday.
This is the first such incident along the border with China that Indian armed forces personnel have been killed after a gap of nearly 45 years.
'but the terrorism issue should be fair, square at the centre of the conversation. It is the major issue ... I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking'
The Indian Army is effecting a major "reorientation" and "rebalancing" of its troops in the strategically sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, with a top general saying its overall combat readiness in the region is of a "very high order."
The Indian Army said the soldier, a Corporal in the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA), has been identified as Wang Ya Long and he will be returned to the Chinese military at the Chushul-Moldo border point after completion of formalities.
The commanders' conclave in a forward area in Sikkim, which is close to the Line of Actual Control, comes amid the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held two-back-to-back meetings with top military brass on Tuesday deliberating on the situation in eastern Ladakh after an Indian Army officer and two soldiers were killed in a violent clash with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to call another high-level meeting later today, they added.
Sources said that even though India and China have been talking at the diplomatic and the military level for over six weeks now, there has been no thinning down in troop numbers or equipment by the Chinese side on this front.
Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russia's direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.
Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria said that the IAF is prepared to deal with a two-front war along the northern and western borders if such a scenario arises.
He said there were no signs of an "overt collusion" between China and Pakistan during the Ladakh standoff but India also caters to a long term strategy for not a two, but a two-and-half front war. With the half front, he was referring to the internal security.
There is a possibility of more talks at the military and diplomatic levels. India has always been in favour of peace. So, we hope a solution will be found out through talks, Singh said
Gen Wang is the fourth commander to head the Western Theatre Command after the eastern Ladakh standoff began in May last year.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting being held in Goa on May 4 and 5, the foreign ministry in Beijing announced on Tuesday.
India and China achieved a major milestone this year when their bilateral trade crossed the landmark figure of $100 billion but it did not generate any fanfare in both capitals as the two Asian giants are going through a "particularly bad patch" in their relations due to a set of actions by Beijing in violation of agreements that led to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Starting with a modest $1.83 billion in 2001, the bilateral trade crossed $100 billion-mark in the first 11 months this year, a significant milestone for which the two countries carried out campaigns to boost trade and build it as a major stakeholder to improve the relations between two nations, whose ties otherwise remained frosty over the festering boundary dispute and strategic rivalry. According to last month's data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), the India-China bilateral trade totalled $114.263 billion, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year from January to November 2021.
Sources said the Indian delegation was warmly greeted by senior officials of the Chinese Army before the talks began.
About 416 Myanmarese soldiers crossed over to India in view of the situation arising out of the fighting between Myanmar's armed ethnic groups and the government forces, and Indian military is 'closely watching' the unfolding developments, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Thursday.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Indians felt that if they acceded to Chinese claims in Ladakh, Beijing would simply be emboldened to press for further concessions in the future. A revealing excerpt from India And The Cold War.
As per the sources, the discussions between the two sides include pulling back tanks and armoured vehicles from their present positions, and some development in this regard is likely to take place in the next few days.
The Indian Army is enhancing the combat prowess of its artillery units along the frontier with China by procuring an array of weapons systems, including an additional batch of 100 K9 Vajra howitzers, swarm drones, loitering munitions and surveillance systems.
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
The marathon fourth round of Lt Gen-level talks also focussed on steps for pulling back large number of troops and weapons from rear bases along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
The govt said that the issue is sensitive and related to national security and thus can't be made public.
"How dare China kill our soldiers? How dare they take our land?" he said.
Lieutenant General Manoj Pande on Tuesday took over the reins of Eastern Command as its General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.
The government has also relaxed certain rules to cut delays in military purchase like allowing the three services to procure required weapons and equipment from a single vendor, the sources said.
The two-day mega exercise is involving almost all its frontline fighter jets and other assets deployed in the region, people familiar with the drill said.
In a fresh incident in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese PLA carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops, the Army said here.
The Indian side is expected to seek disengagement as soon as possible in the remaining friction points besides pressing for resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement at 12 noon in the Rajya Sabha on the border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian expressed this hope hours after India and China accused each other of firing in the air near the Pangong lake at the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh on Monday.
'China is in the middle of a substantial expansion of its nuclear weapon arsenal, which satellite images indicate includes the construction of over 300 new missile silos,' SIPRI's statement noted.
'"I think the message has gone across to them very unambiguously that do not mess with us at sea and also at land for that matter'
The Indian Army has been matching up to the Chinese build up in both Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley, the two locations in Ladakh which have witnessed major reinforcement of troops in the last two weeks, sources said. There was very little chance of easing of tension anytime soon as both sides are aggressively holding onto their respective positions, they said.
