The announcement of Modi's visit comes a day after India and China ended their 73-day standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area.
By jettisoning the vision of multilateral world in favour of a Han Empire, China has posed a major long term challenge to India. India must stand firm against Chinese expansionism but also keep a door open for future detente by making a clear distinction between Chinese people and the current Chinese leadership, observe Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (Retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (Retd).
Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese army.
'There was a wrong policy of government during the Congress regime. They didn't construct roads up to the border which left a buffer zone of 3-4 km which China occupied. Construction of new villages isn't a new thing, it's all inherited from Congress'
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.
Most of India's reserves for war in the mountains have been sucked in by the standoff with China. A large part of India's airpower has also similarly been committed on the eastern border. By moving these reserves to the China border, India has been weakened vis-a-vis Pakistan. All in all, the nightmare scenario for India of a two-front war may well come true, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Official sources said withdrawal of tanks and other armoured elements from certain friction points is nearing completion while pulling back of troops from the North bank areas is being undertaken.
Two days after the India-China military talks, the joint statement, issued in New Delhi by the Indian Army said both sides had a 'candid and in-depth exchange' relating to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas.
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 talks between the two armies are going to be held this week at multiple locations including Patroling point 14 (Galwan area), Patrolling point 15, and Hot Springs area, top government sources said.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
'India's behaviour violated agreements...It's a serious military provocation'
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
Senior commanders of the two armies held intense negotiations for nearly 11 hours on Sunday at a designated meeting point in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control.
Pompeo, during a Congressional hearing on Thursday, told the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that 'the actions are entirely consistent with what they have been signalling to the world for decades you might even argue since 1989, but certainly since General Secretary Xi came to power'.
India and China agreed during their military talks on Sunday to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the "remaining issues" in eastern Ladakh at the earliest, but there was no indication of clear forward movement in ending their three-year-long border standoff.
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.
Dispelling the notion that India-China are rivals, Bambawale also said there is no "anti-China mentality" in India.
The two countries reviewed the situation in the region during a fresh round of online diplomatic talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.
The Indian side also told the Chinese delegation that the talks on disengagement should include Depsang as well as all face-off sites, insisting that it should be a simultaneous process and not a selective one.
Since China began this buildup, the Indian side says Chinese troops will have to start the de-escalation. Only then will Indian troops go back. The June 6 meeting agreed to this roadmap.
'Leaders of the two nations have reportedly agreed to set up a hotline between their respective military headquarters,' state-run Global Times daily reported on Wednesday.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two ministers discussed the outstanding issues related to disengagement from all friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
Sources said the Indian troops resolutely confronted the Chinese PLA soldiers.
The seventh round of military talks between India and China held on Monday was "positive and constructive", and both sides agreed to earnestly implement the understanding reached by their leaders to not turn differences into disputes, a joint statement by the two armies said on Tuesday.
'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'
The US president's remarks in this regard come days after senior Indian and Chinese military commanders held talks aimed at resolving the months-long standoff along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. The two countries agreed to stop sending more troops to their disputed border in the Himalayas.
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.
'India knows very well that China will not be at a disadvantage in any China-India military operations along the border area'
Outgoing Indian envoy to China Vikram Misri on Monday had a virtual farewell call on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during which he said that "certain challenges" had overpowered the vast opportunities in the bilateral ties last year and hoped that with continued communication the two sides would be able to resolve the current difficulties.
His comments came in the midst of the disengagement process between Indian and Chinese armies in Pangong Tso areas in eastern Ladakh where the two sides have been locked in a nine-month standoff.
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.
The defence minister made the remarks after performing 'Shastra Puja' -- the customary worship of weapons -- at the Sukna-based headquarters of the Indian Army's 33 Corps in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on the occasion of Dussehra.
Even though troops of India and China have disengaged at three locations in Eastern Ladakh, the Indian side is clear that the tensions on the borders would be done away completely only when the People's Liberation Army de-inducts more than 10,000 troops along with artillery and tank regiments deployed on its side of the Line of Actual Control near the Indian territory.
'India has ramped up infrastructure on its side, so the Chinese military is finding Indian soldiers in locations where they are not used to seeing an Indian footprint,' points out Harsh V Pant.
'Both sides should, therefore, focus on easing tensions in the friction areas by refraining from any actions that may lead to an escalation in the situation'
'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.
The US attacked China for its aggressive moves against its neighbours, including "instigating" a deadly confrontation with India in eastern Ladakh
We have seen great strides in all-around cooperation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Army Spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said troops from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) 'violated' the consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements on the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh, and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo.
