Kicking off his four-day visit, General Suhag met General Li Zuocheng, the head of China's ground forces which have undergone major restructuring in the last three years.
At the border personnel meeting, China also accused the Indian side of damaging its road building equipment when a road laying party left its gear in Tuting in December last year following a protest by India.
The decisions were mentioned in a joint statement issued by the two armies late Tuesday, a day after the sixth round of Sino-India Corps commander-level talks that lasted for 14-hours.
'The Ladakh clashes are mere warning signals of the storm to come on May 22 when the Chinese parliament meets,' observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
As the border standoff entered the sixth month, an early resolution to the row appeared dim with close to 100,000 Indian and Chinese troops remaining deployed in the high-altitude region and showing readiness for a long-haul. There is no official word on the talks yet but sources said the agenda was to finalise a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points.
China has been taking "incremental and tactical actions" to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and has unsuccessfully sought to prevent New Delhi from deepening its relationship with the US during and subsequent to the standoff, the Pentagon has said in a major report on China's military modernisation.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
In all likelihood, the next conventional Chinese attack on India would be preceded by a massive cyber attack designed to cripple Indian networks and interfere with our disaster-relief programmes.
India needs to be alert on how the Doklam standoff plays into the factional infighting in China's Communist Party, says Ambassador Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
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.
Indian Armed forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard the country's frontiers, he insisted.
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan is primarily driven by their rivalry with India, eminent US experts have said, with one of them expressing concern over Sino-India border tensions.
Against the backdrop of recent incursions by Chinese troops into India, the two countries are working to conclude a new border defence agreement with an aim of signing it when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Beijing possibly in October.
'J P Dutta's clownish treatment of history and hard-earned triumph demeans the efforts and sacrifices of real-life martyrs and bravehearts with its pompous ideas of valour, clunky writing and a cadre of lacklustre actors,' says Sukanya Verma.
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.
The statement of Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John Aquilino on Wednesday came ahead of the 15th round of high-level military talks between India and China on March 11.
'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!'
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
"Whatever we are doing is in close coordination and synergy with the army and the Indian Air Force to produce desired results," he said.
While OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro were launched in April, the devices were not brought into the Indian market given the lockdown.
'...and then get scaled down somewhat.' 'It will be difficult for any side to occupy meaningful territories, maybe just a bit here and there, and the destruction may vary on either side.'
Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif's visit to Beijing comes in the backdrop of assertions by Pakistan that it will raise its concerns at the international level over India's successful test of supersonic interceptor missile.
The clear assertion by New Delhi came ahead of a fresh round of Lt General-level talks between the Indian army and the Chinese PLA which government sources said is set to take place within the next two days.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need for the recruitment of new talent to support the rapid modernisation of the armed forces and win future wars amid reports that the military has committed more resources to enrol 3 lakh personnel for frontline positions.
'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.' Former RA&W official Jayadeva Ranade explains what China's military reforms mean for the world.
'India is not going to accept whatever the Chinese say. That is not going to happen.'
With the two armies again in a face-off at multiple points, there is apprehension of renewed clashes.
At a virtual media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said disengagement of troops is a complex process which would require mutually agreed 'reciprocal actions'.
Deputy director for the People's Liberation Army Office for International Military Cooperation Major General Huang Xueping held a video conference with his US counterpart Michael Chase last week.
The Philippines, confronted with Chinese bullying in the South China Sea, have become the first foreign military to order the shore-based, anti-ship cruise missile.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state -- but China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province. Beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification.
The fifth edition of the joint exercise between Indian and China, codenamed 'Hand-in-Hand 2015', commenced at the Kunming Military Academy at Yunnan Province in China on October 12.
Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell made the remark on Thursday, adding that the Trump administration is closely watching the Indo-China situation.
At present, the Chinese Army has diverted its troops carrying out a massive exercise on their side of the LAC and deployed them at short notice across the Line of Actual Control in the areas under the Indian Army's 81 and 114 Brigades deployed to counter the Chinese assertions from Daulat Beg Oldie and adjoining areas.
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Sources indicated that during Saturday's talks, India will insist on a faster disengagement process in remaining areas to bring down tension in the region, which has witnessed a tense standoff between the two militaries for over nine months.
China remains in firm control of an estimated 600-800 square kilometres of Indian territory.
The Chinese have only created limited defences for protection of their posts which are located well in depth and much away from the Line of Actual Control, notes Colonel S Dinny (retd).
The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India.
During the course of the intense and complex negotiations between senior commanders of the two armies that ended at 2 am on Wednesday, the Indian delegation also apprised the Chinese PLA about the "red lines" and conveyed that the onus was largely on China to improve the overall situation in the region, the sources said.
