Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands on Tuesday at a side event at the G20 Summit in Bali, a gesture drawing some attention because of the strained relations between the two countries over a border clash two years back.
"I've spoken with Foreign (External Affairs) Minister (S) Jaishankar a number of times about this (Chinese aggressive actions). The Chinese took incredibly aggressive actions. The Indians have done their best to respond to that," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference in Washington, DC.
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.
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.
'Our brave Indian soldiers don't reply to raining of bricks with mere sticks, they do so with iron rods'
Wary of being identified, some said they had been reassured by their friends but were still apprehensive for themselves and their families. Adding to their anxiety was news of protests.
Opposition parties on Tuesday questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh and asked them to take the nation into confidence on the matter, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party asserted that India's borders will remain intact under Modi's leadership.
The last conversation between the two leaders was on April 4 on the issue of hydroxychloroquine.
India has not yet received any confirmation on Chinese President Xi Jinping's in-person participation at the upcoming G20 summit, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday amid reports that he is likely skip the conclave.
The Indian delegation led by Lt General Harinder Singh, the general officer commanding of Leh-based 14 Corps, and Commander of the Tibet Military District Maj Gen Liu Lin held an extensive meeting in Maldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh on Saturday that began at around 11.30 am and went on till evening.
It also noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to Pakistani provocations.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
"Some steps are required for full normalcy, we have not reached there," Bagchi said.
'Even Yashwantrao Chavan, who was defence minister, too had gone to the China border and boosted the morale of the forces'
"India and China are in communication and negotiations on lowering the temperatures through military and diplomatic channels. No party should engage in any action that may escalate the situation at this point," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a briefing when asked about the Prime Minister's visit.
Front-line bases of the Indian army and the air force along the nearly 3,500 km de-facto border with China were Wednesday put on high alert in view of the worst border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh that left 20 Army personnel dead, official sources said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the Line of Actual Control(LAC) and this can be done only through mutually agreed actions.
It is on the exact spot where the Guru is said to have created 108 waterfalls, that the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA on the night of December 9, 2022. As it had done in Ladakh in May 2020, the PLA tried to change the unmarked LAC in the Yangtse sector in Arunachal Pradesh. It was the most serious border incident since the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, notes Claude Arpi.
He said both sides reaffirmed to sincerely work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC.
'Which will not happen.' 'Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has expressly refuted Beijing's statement that normalcy was returning to Sino-Indian relations.'
Jaishankar also asserted that it was vital for both the countries to reach an 'accommodation' not just for themselves, but the world has a lot riding on it.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to call another high-level meeting later today, they added.
Chances are any such disruption will not occur on the major shipping lanes but on some edge of the ocean between India and China. Even if there is no actual disruption, the costs of averting one can be punitive. The setting for this is provided by the energy shortage both countries face, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
'The government will ensure that India's pride is not affected as far as the situation along Indo-China border is concerned'
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".
The capital cost of the entire project, including a 5.6-km-long bridge, other minor bridges, underpasses and a rail overbridge, was estimated at over Rs 2,900 crore. The decision to cancel the project came in the backdrop of the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on June 15.
"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.
'On October 12-13, he started shivering from fear in his tent.' 'That was the time he wrote a letter to my mother to conduct Ganeshji's Atharvashirsha.' 'The moment he finished writing that letter, he told us, he felt serene calmness.'
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg are being finalised, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday but did not give a direct reply on the possibility of a meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In remarks titled 'Implement Consensus and Handle Differences Properly to Bring China-India Relations Back on the Right Track' posted on the Chinese embassy website, Sun spoke of disruptions in the bilateral relationship and outlined five steps to clarify 'some fundamental points'.
While OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro were launched in April, the devices were not brought into the Indian market given the lockdown.
Singh said a meeting between senior Indian and Chinese military leaders has been scheduled for June 6 even as he asserted that India is not going to back off from its position. Asked about the current situation in sensitive areas in eastern Ladakh, he said Chinese have come up to what they claim is their territory while Indians believed it is theirs.
In a fresh incident in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese PLA carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops, the Army said here.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that the government will not allow India's pride to be hurt under any circumstances even as he said bilateral talks were on at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the row.
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.
'India will keep trying to avoid conflict.' 'This is the moment when we draw a line in the sand.'
Will never let the sacrifice of our braves of Galwan go in vain, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said.
The defence minister said "last year in Galwan Valley, our soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in line of duty. I salute all brave soldiers who laid down their lives fighting for the nation."
The Spice-2000 bombs can hit targets up to 70 km and the new variant inducted in the force can also destroy bunkers and hardened shelters
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