The military brass is learnt to have apprised Modi about the evolving situation in eastern Ladakh, though officials maintained that the agenda of the pre-scheduled meeting was to discuss the ambitious military reforms and ways to boost India's combat prowess.
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.
Until last month more than two-thirds of the Indian Army was deployed against Pakistan. Of 14 army corps, just four-and-a-half faced China, while more than twice that number was ranged against Pakistan.
The Indian defence ministry said its border security personnel, as per standard protocol, immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV and they later reverted with its location.
Lt Gen PGK Menon, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, popularly known as 'Fire and Fury' Corps, briefed the army chief on various aspects of the situation in eastern Ladakh.
The high-level talks came a week after 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in a violent clash between the two sides in Galwan Valley.
'Clearly, there is a wide gap between the stated intentions of China's top leadership to improve relations with India and the PLA's aggressive border management,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'We must understand that the LAC is a political issue for China, so any action on the LAC will keep India focussed on the LAC which gives China the opportunity for any adventurism in the Indian Ocean.'
Chinese military has also deployed a sizeable number of its troops in Galwan Valley, the site of the violent clashes on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The two sides have already held at least 12 rounds of talks between local commanders and three rounds of talks between major general-rank officials but no positive outcome came out from the discussions, they said.
The 60-metre bridge is around four kilometres east of the confluence of Shyok and Galwan rivers, and links the narrow mountainous region to the Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road.
The Indian Army will continue to maintain its aggressive posturing in all disputed areas in eastern Ladakh and will not back off till status quo is maintained, sources said.
The talks came a day after the two armies began a limited disengagement in a few areas in Galwan Valley and Hot Spring in a demonstration of their intent to end the row peacefully.
'There were a lot of abuses shouted at one another, but that was a waste in the absence of interpreters,' an Indian Army officer tells Ajai Shukla.
The day-long exercise held "is part of the ongoing initiatives being taken by India and China to ensure greater interaction between troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control.
The commanders are also expected to specifically deliberate on deployment of first batch of around six Rafale fighter jets which are expected to join the IAF's fighter fleet later this month, they said.
Indian and Chinese troops remained engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in several disputed areas.
People familiar with the situation in the region said the two sides were engaged in trying to resolve the dispute, but there was no indication of a positive outcome yet as both the armies continued to bolster their positions in disputed areas of Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley and Demchok.
The two sides are also expected to finalise a roadmap for restoration of peace and tranquility in the high-altitude region that witnessed an eight-week bitter standoff between the troops of the two countries.
The meeting will take place in Chushul sector on the Indian side of Line of Actual Control.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the focus of Modi's remarks at the meeting on Friday was the events of June 15 at Galwan that led to the loss of lives of 20 Indian military personnel.
Trump on Wednesday said in a tweet that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries.
It is learnt that the India's top military brass is constantly monitoring the evolving situation even as the United States said the aggressive behaviour by Chinese troops was a reminder of the threat posed by China.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria was at the Leh IAF base on Wednesday where he reviewed operational preparedness of the force in effectively guarding the sensitive border areas in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese armies have been on a nearly six-week standoff.
'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).
China said that it had put off the visit of Indian pilgrims who enter Tibet via the Nathu La pass "for safety reasons" in view of the border issue.
This is the third round of Corps Commander-level talks being held. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
Gen Naravane reviewed the overall security situation in the region with Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Yogesh Kumar Joshi, commander of the 14 Corps Lt Gen Harinder Singh and other senior Army officials.
The defence ministry need not come to the Centre to get green clearances for constructing border roads and strategically important projects coming within 100 kms of the Line of Actual Control, the environment ministry said on Thursday.
Singh addresses a first-ever meeting of chief ministers of five Himalayan states.
China's state-run media said that the leadership of the two countries successfully solved the Doklam standoff in 2017 with 'concerted efforts and wisdom'.
The Chinese side has particularly bolstered its presence in the Galwan Valley, erecting around 100 tents in the last two weeks and bringing in heavy equipment for construction of bunkers, notwithstanding the stiff protest by Indian troops. There have been reports of multiple incidents of transgressions by Chinese troops in several areas in Eastern Ladakh.
The sources said there was clear sign of withdrawal of structures and troops from the patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley and that they are likely to move back more than a kilometre in the area.
'It is a game of patience. We have to stand firm and tire them out, which we are doing.'
Singh said the Doklam "deadlock" was resolved similarly and without any confrontation.
In the next few days, Indian Army will carry out a detailed verification to check actual implementation of the disengagement process, he said. It is learnt that the mutual disengagement in Gogra (patrolling point 17A) is expected to be completed by Thursday.
China has started the construction of at least 13 entirely new military positions including three air bases, five permanent air defence positions and five heliports near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the aftermath of the Doklam standoff in 2017, according to a report by global security consultancy Stratfor.
On the shopping list: Light tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, UAVs, assault rifles, fighter aircraft.
The meeting primarily focused on implementation of certain decisions taken at the fifth round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two armies last week on the disengagement process as well as to bring down prevailing tension in the region, sources said.
'During disengagement, you don't find violence.' 'And that, too, the killing of a commanding officer.' 'This indicates that this is more serious than previous incidents.'
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