The government has also relaxed certain rules to cut delays in military purchase like allowing the three services to procure required weapons and equipment from a single vendor, the sources said.
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.
'"I think the message has gone across to them very unambiguously that do not mess with us at sea and also at land for that matter'
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who made a rare visit this week to the restive Xinjiang region which borders Ladakh, met the troops and officers stationed there and praised their "outstanding contributions" to the border defence and stabilisation of the volatile province.
Sources said the exercise is aimed at checking the IAF's overall combat capability and military preparedness in the region.
China plans to build a new highway along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India as part of Beijing's efforts to strengthen its strategic position and project its power, a media report said on Wednesday.
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.
The Indian Army has been matching up to the Chinese build up in both Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley, the two locations in Ladakh which have witnessed major reinforcement of troops in the last two weeks, sources said. There was very little chance of easing of tension anytime soon as both sides are aggressively holding onto their respective positions, they said.
The Chief of Air Staff, addressing a press conference ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8, asserted that the IAF will continue to remain deployed along the frontier in the region till complete disengagement takes place in the remaining contested areas.
As tension escalated at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the sources said around 50-60 soldiers of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) approached the Indian post in the southern bank of Pangon lake area at around 6 pm but the Indian Army personnel posted there strongly confronted them, forcing their retreat.
India and China will complete the disengagement process in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in eastern Ladakh by September 12, the External Affairs Ministry said on Friday.
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.
The two militaries are set to hold extensive talks on finalising modalities for restoring normalcy and bringing back peace and tranquillity in the region after the verification of the disengagement exercise is completed.
"As regards reports about a bridge being made by the Chinese side on Pangong Lake, the government has been monitoring this activity closely," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
The IAF has deployed almost all its frontline fighter jets like Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft in the key frontier air bases in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere along the Line of Actual Control.
In an interaction with the commanders at their ongoing biannual conference, Singh reasserted the faith of the billion-plus citizens in the Indian Army as one of the "most trusted and inspiring organisations" in the country.
The United States is closely monitoring the situation along the India-China border, a senior official said on Tuesday and expressed concerns over Beijing's pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbours.
From Eastern Ladakh to Sikkim, new drone units that can carry out missions for up to 48 hours are begin deployed.
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.
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo will return to sponsor the IPL this season after its attempts to transfer the rights to another company failed to materialise as offers were not upto its "expectations".
India on Thursday said that ensuring a comprehensive disengagement of troops in all the friction areas in eastern Ladakh is the 'immediate task', remarks that came ahead of another round of military talks with China on the border standoff.
The video was reportedly shot at Fuyang Railway Station while the troops were preparing to head to a military camp in Hebei province, according to Taiwan News.
The ministry also made certain clarifications in the statement, and said, "the assertion that Indian territory is up to Finger 4 is categorically false. The territory of India is as depicted by the map of India and includes more than 43,000 sq km currently under illegal occupation of China since 1962."
On development of infrastructure by China in border areas, the Army chief said it is going on unabated.
India has told China that disengagement at all friction points is necessary to contemplate de-escalation of troops in eastern Ladakh even as the foreign ministers of the two countries agreed to establish a hotline for "timely" communication and exchange of views.
The Indian delegation at Thursday's talks is likely to be led by Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the external affairs ministry, they said.
K Pazhani of Kadukkalur village served the army for 22 long years and was due to retire in a year.
"Though we reiterate our commitment to peace, our defence forces -- the army, the air force and the navy -- are adequately mobilised in a well-coordinated move to thwart any attempt to undermine our security. Our national interest will be protected at all costs. We have also ensured a widespread understanding in the international community of India's firm and principled stand," the President said. India and China are locked in a nearly nine-month long military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian side has an edge over their Chinese counterparts in terms of battling the weather as a large number of them have already done duty in the Ladakh sector, including the Siachen glacier or other high altitude positions, sources said.
The Army has significantly bolstered its fire power along the frontier with China by deploying a range of rockets and artillery weapons and plans to procure an array of additional systems, including 100 K9 Vajra howitzers and UAVs, to augment combat prowess.
The step was taken by both the sides as they wanted to avoid a repeat of June 15 violent face-off as the troops were in close vicinity.
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.
Another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination is expected to be scheduled soon.
The meeting started at around 11.30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said. This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Rafales's arrival at a time when India's coronavirus crisis is getting worse.
Delivering a thinly veiled message to Pakistan from its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the 'three evils' of terrorism, extremism and separatism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows and connectivity.
The current geopolitical situation necessitates the Indian Air Force to prepare for intense and small duration operations at a short notice, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said on Thursday.
But there is a bigger issue that both of us have brought forces close up and in that sense there is a militarisation of the border, he said.
The Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday allocated Rs 2,33,210.68 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs with the majority of the fund -- Rs 1,60,391.06 crore -- being given to central police forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which are responsible for internal security, border guarding and security of vital installations.
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