In a major boost to its fire power, the Indian Army has deployed a sizeable number of upgraded L70 anti-aircraft guns in the high mountains along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh in addition to its existing M-777 howitzers and Swedish Bofors guns, officials said on Wednesday.
India and China failed to make any breakthrough, but agreed to maintain dialogue to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution at the earliest.
China on Thursday said Chinese and Indian troops have taken "effective measures" to disengage at the Galwan Valley and other areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and the situation is "stable and improving," days after the two sides agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of soldiers from all the standoff points.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the Line of Actual Control with China, has posted its first officer to head the newly-created Guwahati-based eastern command that oversees deployment of border battalions in that region.
The talks between the two sides near Galwan Valley ended in a stalemate on Tuesday as well as Wednesday, the sources said.
The resolution was introduced by Senator John Cornyn, Republican Senate Majority Whip, and Senator Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
On the shopping list: Light tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, UAVs, assault rifles, fighter aircraft.
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The Indian Army had said the Chinese soldier had "strayed" across the LAC in Demchok sector.
The two sides have already held at least 12 rounds of talks between local commanders and three rounds of talks between major general-rank officials but no positive outcome came out from the discussions, they said.
The DG of the ITBP said his troops have been provided with special winter clothing and nutritious food as they brave the severe chill in eastern Ladakh where the armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff for over six months. He said 'strains in bilateral relations are already evident but we are confident these will be sorted out peacefully very shortly'.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday asserted that India's relationship with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas and there is no ambiguity in New Delhi's signalling to that country.
Jaishankar said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on ground.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
The IAF commanders held detailed deliberations on the border row with China in eastern Ladakh, key short-term and long-term security challenges facing the nation and on the complex geo-political power play in India's neighbourhood.
The joint statement said Jaishankar and Wang agreed that both sides should take guidance from the series of consensus reached between leaders of the two countries on developing India-China relations, including not allowing differences to become disputes.
'If our troops on the frontlines were sleeping for two hours, they can perhaps now sleep for 2.5 hours because when the adversary is right in front, then you can't even blink your eyes, you have to be absolutely alert.'
The Nyoma airfield, which will be one of the world's highest, will sharpen the IAF's capability along the northern border.
The authorisation to increase the weapon and ammunition reserves to minimum 15-I levels from the earlier existing 10-day stocking is to prepare the defence forces for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan.
Even after the one month of the incident, China has still not disclosed how many of its soldiers were killed in the incident.
The major general-level meeting discussed ways to implement the disengagement of troops from Galwan Valley as agreed during high-level military talks between the two sides on June 6. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Leh-based 3 Infantry Division commander Major General Abhijit Bapat. The two sides held Major General-level talks on Tuesday as well.
The ministry of external affairs said both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided had the agreement arrived at earlier at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.
The former Congress president has been questioning the government over the martyrdom of Indian soldiers and has demanded answers from the prime minister.
Colonel Santosh Babu who hailed from Suryapet district in Telangana, was serving in the 16 Bihar regiment as Commanding Officer.
At least a couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the un-demarcated Sino-India border in the area after the fierce face-off on May 5 following which a fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of the Indian Air Force too carried out sorties there, the sources said.
"China's position on the Zangnan region (South Tibet) is consistent and clear. We never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing while responding to a question.
The Indian Army says it wants to deploy the vehicles in places like Eastern Ladakh along with desert and amphibious terrain. The FICV project has been in plans for a long time and the need for a modern troops carrier equipped with tank-busting capabilities was felt during the recent Ladakh conflict.
"The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas," the Army said in a statement.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan gave a brief account of the four-month-long standoff and said the Chinese side attempted to transgress the Line of Actual in several areas of the western sector since mid-May.
A Chinese media report said Wei and Singh are attending the event in Moscow and they are likely to meet there over the border tension in eastern Ladakh. "Our Defence Minister would not be meeting the Chinese Defence Minister," Defence Ministry Spokesperson Bharat Bhushan Babu said when asked about the Chinese media report.
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Days after a Pentagon report said Beijing built a large village in a disputed territory in the Arunachal Pradesh sector, India on Thursday said it has neither accepted any illegal occupation of its territory by China nor has it accepted unjustified Chinese claims.
According to the 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China' report 2023: "Since early May 2020, sustained tensions along the India-China border have dominated the Western Theater Command's attention."
'The government will ensure that India's pride is not affected as far as the situation along Indo-China border is concerned'
Monday's clash was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese Army personnel were killed in the confrontation.
'We have to be equally vigilant in the central sector which is where Barahoti lies and also in the Joshimath area.'
Indian troops were maintaining their "posture" along the border with China while infrastructure development in the frontier areas was on track, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane said on Thursday, days after personnel of the two countries were locked in two separate incidents of violent face-offs. Gen Naravane said the incidents in Eastern Ladakh and North Sikkim involved aggressive behaviour by Chinese and Indian troops resulting in minor injuries to personnel from both the sides.
Rahul Gandhi supports New Delhi's policy of having its relationship with Russia in the context of the Ukrainian war, despite the pressure it feels from the West.
Observers say China should re-address its policies towards India or else it will continue to face flare-ups increasing the tensions between the two countries at a time China's increasing tension with the US over Taiwan and the South China Sea besides the downturn in the Chinese economy which is hit hard by the zero-covid policy.
The brother of the martyr, Jai Kishore Singh, who himself is in the armed forces, accused the police of thrashing his father and abusing him.
