Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane on Friday visited several forward areas in eastern Ladakh and carried out a comprehensive review of India's operational preparedness in the backdrop of its prolonged military standoff with China in the mountainous region.
China has chosen to keep New Delhi guessing, while retaining for itself the option of constantly changing facts on the ground and shifting the LAC westwards -- the strategy called 'salami slicing', notes Ajai Shukla.
Top commanders of the Indian Army on Monday carried out a comprehensive review of the country's security challenges, including in eastern Ladakh and other sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, on the opening day of a four-day conference, people familiar with the developments said.
This is probably the first time Rahul Gandhi is attending this committee's meeting since being nominated to the panel last year after Lok Sabha elections.
Wang began a two-day trip to Pakistan on Tuesday primarily to attend a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a special guest.
"On the border issue, China always maintains that we should follow through on treaties and agreements we signed and we jointly uphold peace and tranquility at the border region," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said while responding to Jaishankar's remarks.
The gap between the existing air bases in China close to the LAC for fighter aircraft operations was around 400 kms but this would be bridged with the operationalisation of the Shakche airfield.
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.
'Unless India ups the ante, Beijing will continue to believe its transgressions are cost free and will feel encouraged to do more of the same.'
The papers presented by Indian Police Service officers at the just concluded conference of director generals of police (DGPs) and inspector generals of police (IGPs) submit that by providing huge amounts of money in the name of loans for developmental works in Southeast and South Asia, China wants to reduce India's influence in the Indian Ocean region and force resolution of bilateral issues on Beijing's terms.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.
With the Indian Army having blocked the PLA several kilometres inside India, hundreds of soldiers from both sides remain in a tense face-off.
The Indian side is expected to seek disengagement as soon as possible in the remaining friction points besides pressing for resolution of issues in Depsang Bulge and Demchok.
Observers say China should re-address its policies towards India or else it will continue to face flare-ups increasing the tensions between the two countries at a time China's increasing tension with the US over Taiwan and the South China Sea besides the downturn in the Chinese economy which is hit hard by the zero-covid policy.
Besides clearing the proposal to buy assault rifles, the other significant acquisitions approved by the DAC include procurement of smart anti-airfield weapon (SAAW) systems for the navy and the Indian Air Force at an approximate cost of Rs 970, the officials said.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar urged people to boycott Chinese products after the recent India-China military stand-off.
'The Chinese have not crossed the LAC in Galwan.' 'They are on their side of the LAC and we are on our side.'
'Even if there is no full-scale war, Galwan-like skirmishes cannot be ruled out.'
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.
General Officer Commanding-in Chief of the Eastern command, Lieutenant General R P Kalita, however, said the Indian side is also continuously upgrading its infrastructure and capabilities to deal with any situation which may arise along the border.
'We have to be prepared on the borders to withstand Chinese expansionist designs.'
From Eastern Ladakh to Sikkim, new drone units that can carry out missions for up to 48 hours are begin deployed.
He said that the government of India has never accepted this illegal occupation.
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'India's military posture has become significantly stronger than China's on the 3,500-kilometre Line of Actual Control.' 'This is enhancing confrontation between the two sides,' points out Ajai Shukla.
The Centre Thursday told the Delhi high court it has set up an appellate mechanism to deal with grievances of the users arising from the decisions of social media platforms.
The comments by External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava came at a media briefing when asked about the fresh comments by the Chinese foreign ministry blaming India again for the border situation in eastern Ladakh.
The Army is looking at procuring the LUHs and LCHs to replace its ageing fleets of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
'China has forcibly occupied territory it had never occupied before, blocked Indian patrols' access to areas they had patrolled for decades and, most provocatively, killed 20 Indian soldiers.' 'Most countries would regard these as acts of war.' 'New Delhi has apparently taken off the table the option of evicting the PLA with force,' observes Ajai Shukla.
'The potential of one such LAC engagement going out of control and leading to heavy casualties cannot be ruled out,' warns Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'We would have faced many more Galwans had Indian troops not reacted and retaliated the way they did.'
The talks till now have resulted in the resolution of issues in North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas.
Sources said the process of disengagement along the Line of Actual Control is "complex", and in such a context, speculative and unsubstantiated reports need to be avoided.
'China is unwilling to restore the status quo ante of April 2020.' 'India will have to weigh its options based on this premise.'
His attack on the government came days after Indian Army personnel clashed with Chinese soldiers in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
Replying to clarifications sought by MPs in Rajya Sabha on his statement on the border row, the minister said skirmishes and face-off with China in the last few months have been primarily over the issue of patrolling the Ladakh border.
The sources said the soldier was handed back to China at the Chushul-Moldo border point in eastern Ladakh at 10.10 am.
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.
'There is a sense of realism in the Pakistan army that if they needled India during the Ladakh standoff, they would have seen a strong retaliation.' 'Pakistan was hoping that India would come out looking weaker in the region and get embarrassed, but that obviously has not happened.'
In an interactive session at a think-tank in Paris, Jaishankar said he was optimistic about resolving the issue through dialogue and that significant headway has been made in many of the friction points.
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