In heart-wrenching scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, coffins of soldiers arrived in several states for the last rites with full military honours.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing that "at the moment the situation in the boundary region between China and India is overall stable and controllable".
The two apps had drawn millions of downloads in India as border tensions between India and China surged.
The last conversation between the two leaders was on April 4 on the issue of hydroxychloroquine.
China's state-run media said that the leadership of the two countries successfully solved the Doklam standoff in 2017 with 'concerted efforts and wisdom'.
The Army Chief replied in the affirmative when asked by the moderator whether he concurs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks after the border standoff that the Chinese have not come into control of Indian territory.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla terms India's relationship with China as "complex".
At the talks, the Indian side insisted on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the two armies in Pangong Tso, they said.
The Chinese action followed 'India's recent, illegal construction of defence facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region', a write-up in the state-run Global Times tabloid said, quoting unnamed military sources.
The navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
The two sides have also agreed for a joint mechanism to verify the progress in the disengagement process through delegation meetings as well as using unmanned aerial vehicles.
'Even at Galwan Valley, our soldiers are now not allowed to patrol at the point at which they used to patrol earlier. In the Pangong area, in a more than eight-kilometre area they are not allowing us to patrol, the area which we used to patrol. Previously, we used to patrol till Finger 8 and now we are not being allowed to patrol till Finger 8'
The sources also said both the Indian and Chinese troops are firmly holding on to their respective positions at the Line of Actual Control.
The next phase of the de-escalation process will kick off only after the fourth round of talks between corps commanders of the two sides.
India said it is strongly committed to ensuring its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Shringla said that diplomacy is looking at a very changed scenario in terms of how statecraft and relations between countries work in the wake of the pandemic.
This is the third round of Corps Commander-level talks being held. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
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.
Instead of "the dragon and the elephant compete with each other", "the dragon and the elephant dance together, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Describing the order as a "matter most urgent", the director asked the oil marketing companies to make adequate stocks of LPG which can last up to two months both at bottling plants as well as godowns.
'The Ladakh Scouts are a fantastic mountain troops suited to this terrain.' 'Other troops have to first get acclimatised, but these men are tough mountain people.'
Chinese military has also deployed a sizeable number of its troops in Galwan Valley, the site of the violent clashes on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The Chief of the Army Staff interacted with almost all the injured soldiers and complimented them for their bravery.
A host of top Congress leaders wished him on his birthday, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh among the first to send his best wishes through a letter in the morning.
China said that after this incident both sides are in communication and coordination on the matter through diplomatic and military channels.
'In South Asia, unlike Southeast, East, or Central Asia, there is a natural hegemon: India. China cannot cast it aside easily'
China and India have agreed to work to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control and resolve the border standoff through talks while implementing the consensus reached between the two countries' leadership that 'differences' do not escalate into 'disputes', a top Chinese official said.
The Indian side is expected to present specific proposals at the talks to deescalate tension in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Demchok -- the three areas in eastern Ladakh where the two sides have been on a bitter standoff for last one month, the sources said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that the government will not allow India's pride to be hurt under any circumstances even as he said bilateral talks were on at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the row.
The MEA spokesperson did not reply to questions like whether the US had approached India with the offer, whether New Delhi has communicated its response over it to Washington, DC or whether the Trump administration has been briefed about the current standoff between Chinese and Indian soldiers in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian Army will continue to maintain its aggressive posturing in all disputed areas in eastern Ladakh and will not back off till status quo is maintained, sources said.
The US president previously offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, a proposal rejected by New Delhi which maintains that there is no role for any third party in bilateral issues.
Four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acknowledged for the first time on Friday.
Asked about the continued tensions along the border and whether the PLA troops action was anyway related to the disagreements with the Indian government's plan to lure business out of China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both the countries were in diplomatic contact over the face-off between their troops.
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.
The sources said the situation in eastern Ladakh remained 'tense' and that around 30-40 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are holding up at a position close to an Indian post in the Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh.
'China's action towards India really gives you a good insight into how the Communist Party of China is thinking these days'
Five villagers from Nacho area of the district, who went for hunting in a jungle were allegedly kidnapped by the PLA.
'Everytime the Chinese raised the issue of our patrol crossing the line, I told them let's not fight over a line that does not exist yet.' 'Commanders resolved such situations sitting across the table, sometimes we posed veiled threats about creating problems elsewhere along the 800 km frontier as a tit-for-tat.'
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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