Pliot error is understood to have been found as the reason behind the crash of Indian Air Force's C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in March in which five service personnel, including four officers, were killed near Gwalior.
Around 20 Chinese soldiers last week entered Indian territory near the Line of Actual Control and pitched their tents in Chepzi area in Ladakh, sources said on Sunday. Around 20-22 Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers had last week pitched around 8-10 tents in the west of Chepzi in Ladakh area, the sources said.
In the last couple of weeks, the Chinese forces have brought in heavy air superiority aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 and its strategic bombers to the rear locations which have been detected flying near the Indian territory maintaining the 10 km plus distance from the boundary.
'The government will ensure that India's pride is not affected as far as the situation along Indo-China border is concerned'
Operation Meghdoot was launched on April 13, 1984, when the Indian Army and IAF advanced to the Siachen Glacier to secure the heights dominating the northern Ladakh region
Chinese troops have been camping in the Finger area for over three months now and have even started fortifying their bases there with construction of bunkers and sangars.
The black box of the C-130J transport aircraft that crashed near Gwalior on Friday has suffered damage and the Indian Air Force has sent it to the United States to seek the assistance of its manufacturer Lockheed Martin in decoding the data, officials said on Sunday.
Singh also assured the opposition that the central government will not keep Parliament or anyone in the dark about developments on the border and will share details at an appropriate time.
Three months after the 21-day stand-off in Depsang valley in Ladakh, Chinese troops again came deep inside the Indian territory in that area last week to reach upto 2 kms close to Indian posts, in one of five such incursions in the recent past.
The Chinese numbers had surged significantly during the summer season as they brought in a large number of troops for summer training. They have now gone back to their rear locations.
The step has been taken to boost tourism in Ladakh and give people a window to appreciate the tough work done by Army jawans and engineers in extreme weather and inhospitable terrains, he said.
"The IAF chief flew a MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft during the visit where he interacted with the aircrew and reviewed the operational preparedness," IAF officials said.
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.
"I am not aware of the information you provided," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing when asked about the reports of the Indian casualties at the contested borders. "Our border troops had a high-level meeting and reached important consensus on easing the border situation but astonishingly, on June 15, the Indian troops seriously violated our consensus and twice crossed the border line for illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel which led to serious physical conflict between the two sides and China has lodged strong protest and representation with the Indian side," Zhao said.
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
Narrowing of differences on competing territorial claims along the un-demarcated LAC might take weeks, if not months, of hard-nosed negotiations. Without some give and take on both sides, the impasse will be hard to resolve, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Officers at Army headquarters say the chief has personally initiated this reshuffle, reports Ajai Shukla
Colonel Santosh Babu who hailed from Suryapet district in Telangana, was serving in the 16 Bihar regiment as Commanding Officer.
The batch of five experts will also play a role as interpreters between India and China sides during border personnel meetings, sources said.
The names of 20 Indian Army personnel, who were killed while valiantly fighting Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, were inscribed on the National War Memorial ahead of the Republic Day, official sources said.
The paper suggests the strategy needs to be area-specific eg, border tourism can be promoted aggressively in the Turtuk or Siachen sector, and Daulat Beg Oldi or Depsang plains.
The Congress on Friday questioned the silence of the government on the veracity of a video which purportedly shows injured Indian soldiers in captivity of the Chinese and said if it is genuine, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi must ensure that China is held globally accountable for indulging in war crimes.
India and China made progress in five-six friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh through talks in the last three years and efforts are underway to resolve the remaining issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.
In separate statements, the Chinese foreign and the defence ministries, however, repeated Beijing's stand that India was responsible for the June 15 violent face-off in eastern Ladakh. Defence Ministry Spokesman Col Wu Qian said the two defence ministers are negotiating on the phone.
Experts said the tensions have added to a sense of apprehension in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia that China will engage in more aggressive behaviour in pursuit of its territorial interests, which in turn has raised the possibility of a serious and coordinated pushback by leading global players.
'I strongly urge China to respect norms and use diplomacy and existing mechanisms to resolve its border questions with India'
In a major technology push, Indian Army has envisioned construction of "permanent defences" along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh using cutting-edge 3D printing technology, a move that will save time and improve its defence preparedness, sources said on Tuesday.
With the Indian Army having blocked the PLA several kilometres inside India, hundreds of soldiers from both sides remain in a tense face-off.
'We will not accept these misadventures by the Chinese.'
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On challenges being faced in the search operations, Bargotra said the weather which was bad had improved since Sunday.
The deliberations focused on bringing down tension along the disputed borders and ways to bridge the trust deficit.
When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it. And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army tried to enter the Indian side in two areas--Finger Four and Finger Five-- twice.
The meeting primarily focused on implementation of certain decisions taken at the fifth round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two armies last week on the disengagement process as well as to bring down prevailing tension in the region, sources said.
Chinese People's Liberation Army recently made a two-pronged simultaneous incursion by sending its troops into Indian waters in the Pangong lake as well as five km deep into Indian territory through the land route in the same area, according to reports.
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.
Since the June 15 clash, the PLA has inducted large numbers of troops, armoured vehicles and artillery along the LAC, from Depsang and Galwan in northern Ladakh to Hot Springs, Pangong Tso, and Chushul in central Ladakh, to Demchok and Chumar in southern Ladakh.
China said that after this incident both sides are in communication and coordination on the matter through diplomatic and military channels.
The stand-off in Chumar area of Ladakh area took a new turn on Sunday with Chinese People's Liberation Army pitching 7 tents well within the Indian territory and showing no signs of withdrawing from the territory.