'Both sides have agreed that the overall situation should be handled in a responsible manner'
China has asserted that it had never waged a war to occupy 'an inch of land of other countries', days after Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi slammed the Communist giant for its "expansionist mindset".
In the fourth such incursion since March, two helicopters of the People's Liberation Army of China hovered for about five minutes in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and "could have carried out aerial photography of Indian ground troops," according to official sources in the government.
The talks will focus on 'delimitation of the border, boundary management and a host of bilateral and international issues'.
Tawang is very much a part of India, and if the present Dalai Lama decides one day to take rebirth in Tawang, the Indian government will openly welcome him and support him, notes Claude Arpi.
It is learnt that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has conveyed to top military brass that there was no need for reviewing the implementation of any of the key projects along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand or in Arunachal Pradesh in view of the aggressive behaviour by Chinese troops in several sensitive areas.
In the review meeting, Singh told the top military brass to continue to deal with the situation in eastern Ladakh and other areas with "firmness".
The comments came in the backdrop of the continuing standoff between the militaries of India and China at the LAC.
China also said that it was opposed to any third-party involvement in the resolution of the Sino-India boundary disputes.
Many of them sustained minor injuries in the clash near Naku La in the Sikkim sector along the Sino-Indo border on Saturday
The exercise was aimed at validating joint plans for strategic airlift of specialised forces employing IAF's fixed and rotary wing platforms by landing and dropping in designated areas for undertaking kinetic actions, they said.
Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing's intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday.
The focus of the talks will be to ensure mutual development and expanding overall ties, diplomatic sources said.
"As far as I know, China presently has not detained any Indian personnel," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told a media briefing in Beijing while answering questions on the tense standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the Galwan Valley.
The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a standoff for 73 days in Doklam.
....a long-term boundary agreement is reached between the two countries.
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.
The 60-metre bridge is around four kilometres east of the confluence of Shyok and Galwan rivers, and links the narrow mountainous region to the Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road.
The main focus will be on the situation in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball face-off in sensitive areas like Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie
Sources said Wang is primarily visiting India to hold boundary talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
"We will remember the soldiers' families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve," said Pompeo.
Out of 18, four personnel were critically injured but they are responding to treatment and are stable now, people familiar with the matter said.
India and China have so far held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary dispute.
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 two sides have already held 21 rounds of talks under the framework of SR dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a three-day visit to China from this north west city on Thursday, the hometown of Chinese President Xi Jinping with whom he held "very substantive" discussions focussing on strengthening of mutual trust and the boundary issue.
The last time the Chinese military had taken Indian soldiers captive was in July 1962 after a clash in Galwan Valley.
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".
'I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India'
The last conversation between the two leaders was on April 4 on the issue of hydroxychloroquine.
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.
China is spending billions of dollars to improve infrastructure in Tibet and other parts of its border with India. Claude Arpi explains why New Delhi can't afford to ignore Beijing's plans.
'The need of the hour is to build on the positives and control the negatives,' says Colonel (Dr) Anil A Athale (retd).
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.
'China's excessive military aid to Pakistan is the real elephant in the room as far as Sino-Indian relations are concerned. India should be confident enough to accept a degree of closeness between China and Pakistan, since China may wish to use this link for its foray into the Muslim world.' 'But the Chinese must be realistic enough to know that as time passes, the tactic of using Pakistan as a proxy to check India will yield diminishing returns. The US tried it for 60 years but failed, so will China,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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'
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.
Singh said a meeting between senior Indian and Chinese military leaders has been scheduled for June 6 even as he asserted that India is not going to back off from its position. Asked about the current situation in sensitive areas in eastern Ladakh, he said Chinese have come up to what they claim is their territory while Indians believed it is theirs.
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.
