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.
China on Friday said it will not attend the planned G20 tourism working group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir next week, asserting that it is "firmly opposed" to holding such meetings in the "disputed territory".
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.
The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
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.'
India and China have made "some progress" in disengagement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, describing it as a "welcome" move which opens up the possibility that other steps could happen.
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.
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.
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.
'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.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
'India today feels enough is enough and we need to teach Pakistan a lesson.' 'Unless compelled, Mr Modi will think 10 times before taking the extreme step.'
'Anyone familiar with Modi's track record will know he never forgets a slight, a betrayal,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
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.
Glimpses from Yudh Abhyas, the India-US military exercise currently being conducted in Tapovan, Uttarakhand, 100 km away from the Line of Actual Control.
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.
China said that "sound and stable ties" serve the common interests of China and India.
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.
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.
The key meeting was held in Beijing on March 27, the MEA said in a statement.
The US hopes that the differences will be resolved peacefully, officials said in Washington.
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".
'India's behaviour violated agreements...It's a serious military provocation'
The trust said that the situation at the India-China border is "serious" and defending the country is "most important".
"Today when there is so much anger over Chinese intrusion, the prime minister should come out and tell the nation how the Chinese managed to commit this act of aggression," Gandhi said in a video message.
The MoUs were signed on Monday under the 'Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0', hours before the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, in which 20 Indian Army personnel were martyred.
