Roads are being expanded, bridges are being built, hotels are springing up, and the crowds are pouring in. Bringing with them promise of unforeseen economic boom. Ayodhya, it seems, has opened up its heart, Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com discovers on his first day in the city.
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.
Amidst reports of Chinese incursions, the Peoples Liberation Army and the Indian Army on Sunday decided to uphold treaties and agreements signed between the governments of the two sides to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control.
"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.
A joint statement released on Thursday said both sides exchanged views in an 'open and constructive' manner to resolve the 'relevant issues' and that it was agreed to maintain 'security and stability' on the ground in the region.
The BrahMos export order would be the biggest for the country in this field and is likely to propel India amongst arms exporting countries as more orders for the missile are expected from other friendly countries.
The US president previously offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, a proposal rejected by New Delhi which maintains that there is no role for any third party in bilateral issues.
The army made the comments as part of a statement trashing a media report that said the Chinese military has again crossed the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh at several places and that there has been at least one incident of clash between the two sides.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday asserted that India's relationship with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas and there is no ambiguity in New Delhi's signalling to that country.
Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande has carried out a comprehensive review of India's military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh in his first visit to the border state after last month's clash between Indian and Chinese forces in the Tawang sector.
This is Gen Pande's first visit to the sector after taking over as the chief of the Indian Army on April 30.
'When armies start attacking with clubs and batons, then at some point this can take an escalatory spiral and spin out of control.'
People familiar with the development said on Friday that the Chinese envoy held wide-ranging talks with the external affairs ministry's point person for Afghanistan J P Singh.
At least a couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the un-demarcated Sino-India border in the area after the fierce face-off on May 5 following which a fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of the Indian Air Force too carried out sorties there, the sources said.
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".
After their troops remained in "face-to-face" situation for nearly three weeks, India and China have agreed to restore status quo along Line of Actual Control in Western Sector as it existed prior to April 15, when Chinese intruded into Indian territory there.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed the border agreement to ensure that both countries do not tail each other's military teams along the LAC. Sheela Bhatt reports from Beijing
During their hour-long in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave in Dushanbe on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also told his Chinese counterpart and State Councilor Wang Yi that any unilateral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was 'not acceptable' to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.
China on Thursday declined to give any timeline for withdrawal of its troops from Depsang valley in Ladakh but said the issue that has sparked new tensions in bilateral ties "will be properly resolved soon through negotiations".
India raised the issue with China last week immediately after the incident of Chinese incursion came to light.
Chinese may adopt similar tactics to test the nerves of the Indian establishment, reports RS Chauhan
Sources said the Indian troops resolutely confronted the Chinese PLA soldiers.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated that the situation at the India-China border is generally stable and both sides should consolidate the present achievements and strictly abide by the relevant agreements while pushing for further cooling and easing of the conditions for sustainable peace and tranquillity at the frontier.
'I guess you recognise as a coach that once the game starts, once the guys cross the line, there is only so much you can do. As coaches, we don't score a single run or take a single wicket in the tournament. All we can do is really support the players.'
'Both sides should, therefore, focus on easing tensions in the friction areas by refraining from any actions that may lead to an escalation in the situation'
Sources privy to the meeting told PTI that the top brass and other senior commanders of these forces were asked to keep a strict vigil against any illegal encroachment taking place in their respective areas of operations.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China continues to deploy a large number of troops and armaments in the border areas and it was in response to Chinese actions that the Indian armed forces had to make appropriate counter deployments.
On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in Pangong Tso lake area in Eastern Ladakh.
The dedication of Indian soldiers and veterans towards the country is an 'exemplary example', Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday soon after arriving in Ladakh on a three-day visit aimed at taking stock of India's military preparedness in the region in the face of a prolonged border row with China.
The Indian Army has been pitching for a faster disengagement process in areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang to bring down tension in the mountainous region.
Viewed from the Indian side, China's infrastructure building along the LAC is a serious threat.
It took India and the Indian Army to show to the world that enough is enough and to challenge the neighbourhood bully, he said.
India and China on Friday are holding another round of high-level military dialogue to resolve the 22-month-long standoff in some friction points in eastern Ladakh, two months after the last round of such talks failed to yield any significant outcome.
Reacting guardedly to India's assertion of over 500 transgressions by Chinese troops along Line of Actual Control in the past two years, China on Friday said it is committed to implement agreements to ensure peace at borders, while the official media charged that Indian violations could be double than that.
A day after the Chinese government pushed for settlement of the vexed boundary issue at "an early date", India on Tuesday responded by saying that it should be pursued as a "strategic objective" by the two countries.
After the pullout by Chinese troops from Daulat beg Oldi area of Ladakh, infrastructure development programme along the Line of Actual Control is expected to be stepped up besides beefing up of the presence of Indian army there.
'China and India have encountered some setbacks in recent years which do not serve the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples'
Sticking to its stand that Chinese troops have not caused any "provocation" by violating the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China said the incident will not affect bilateral ties or disrupt peace at the borders as both sides are trying to resolve it in a friendly manner.
The military gap between India and China is growing steadily. Clearly, China's negotiating strategy is to resolve the dispute when the Chinese are in a much stronger position in terms of comprehensive national strength so that they can dictate terms, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The military gap between India and China is growing steadily. Clearly, China's negotiating strategy is to resolve the dispute when the Chinese are in a much stronger position in terms of comprehensive national strength so that they can dictate terms, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
