With Beijing remaining intransigent on the withdrawal of additional troops deployed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) since the deadly border clash in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, India's bilateral ties with China remained frozen in 2023 with no forward movement on the horizon despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks.
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 Chinese military has already completed moving back its troops from the face-off sites in Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Springs in line with the first phase of the disengagement process from the friction points on the LAC in eastern Ladakh, sources said. The main focus now shifts to Pangong Tso. India has been insisting that China must withdraw its forces from areas between Finger Four and Eight.
'This special meeting reiterates our belief in the time-tested principles of international relations'
Singh said this is a moment where we must stand together as a nation and be united in our response to this brazen threat.
Twenty Indian Army personnel including a colonel were killed in the fierce clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.
China has alleged that the Indian troops twice crossed the border line on June 15 for "illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel" which led to serious physical conflict between the two sides, hours after the Indian Army said the violent face-off took place between the troops during the "de-escalation process" in the Galwan Valley.
Lauding the bravery displayed by the soldiers, the prime minister said: "The bravery that you and your compatriots showed, a message has gone to the world about India's strength."
The only way to resolve the current military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh was for Beijing to realise that trying to 'change the status quo by resorting to force or coercion, is not the right way forward', India's ambassador to China Vikram Misri said in a hard-hitting interview to PTI.
Indian and Chinese troops remained engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in several disputed areas.
'The Chinese have been moving in step by step; inch by inch for the last 40 years.'
The two armies had mutually decided not to resort to use firearms during face-offs in sync with provisions of two agreements on border management.
The People's Bank of China has picked up a 0.006 per cent stake in ICICI Bank by investing Rs 15 crore in the private sector lender's Rs 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) exercise which concluded last week.
Innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, the real life Phunsukh Wangdu of Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots, has developed an eco-friendly solar heated tent that Army personnel can use in extremely cold places like Siachen and Galwan valley in the Ladakh region.
China said that "sound and stable ties" serve the common interests of China and India.
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.
But it does not mean we will let our self-esteem be hurt, Rajnath said in the message to the armed forces on the eve of Independence Day.
'We are also capable of giving a befitting response to any attempt of aggression,' Kovind said.
Glimpses from Yudh Abhyas, the India-US military exercise currently being conducted in Tapovan, Uttarakhand, 100 km away from the Line of Actual Control.
'Modi ji, now why are you hesitating to show red-eye to China in Ladakh?'
'India will always remain indebted for their supreme sacrifice. Entire nation and Modi government stands firmly with their families in this hour of grief. Praying for the speedy recovery of those injured,' he said.
The key meeting was held in Beijing on March 27, the MEA said in a statement.
The Indian Army started bringing the T-90 Bhishma and T-72 Ajay tanks along with the BMP series Infantry Combat Vehicles from the deserts and plains in a big way to these high altitude locations from last year with the beginning of the Operation Snow Leopard to counter the Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh last summer.
'Anyone familiar with Modi's track record will know he never forgets a slight, a betrayal,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
If it were moments of shock and anxiety on the day when the news about the clash in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh was flashed by TV channels, a call from the Army confirming he was safe and then followed by Vishnu's own calls and the video chat overjoyed his family.
Senior officers recounted extreme Chinese brutality to the Indian prisoners, with some of them being pushed over cliffs and soldiers' bodies being recovered from the Galwan River.
People took to the streets in New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Bhopal, Patna and other cities and set fire to the Chinese flag and photos of the neighbouring country's President Xi Jinping. Protesters urged the Modi government to ensure that martyrdom of the soldiers in the Galwan Valley did not go in vain.
The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria.
The Chinese military is now desperately attempting to give "ex post facto strategic meaning" to its actions in eastern Ladakh.
Without mentioning the boundary dispute, the spokesperson said that China-India relations have been stable on the whole and "our two sides have maintained dialogue and communication at various levels".
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealed to people to boycott products from China and also directed officials of his ministry not to procure any Chinese products for day-to-day office use while his ministerial colleague Ramdas Athawale said all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down.
In their first structured bilateral talks in nearly five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday agreed that India and China can have a 'peaceful and stable' relationship by displaying maturity and mutual respect and endorsed the pact on the resolution of the dragging eastern Ladakh border row.
The US hopes that the differences will be resolved peacefully, officials said in Washington.
India and China on Monday held a fresh round of military talks with a focus on disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh and ease overall tensions in the region.
'India's behaviour violated agreements...It's a serious military provocation'
Jaishankar said India had agreements with China not to mass force in the border areas.
The MEA said the two sides shared their perspectives on the matter in the talks held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere.
The US provided crucial intelligence to the Indian military last year that helped it successfully tackle the Chinese "incursions".
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said the deployment of the Chinese military on India's northern borders is not increasing day by day.
The trust said that the situation at the India-China border is "serious" and defending the country is "most important".
