External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the need for an early resolution of all outstanding issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, and asserted that bilateral ties should be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest.
The home minister took stock of the situation and was briefed about the steps taken to maintain peace along border areas as well as in the Valley, a security official said.
There have been four ceasefire violations along the LoC in Poonch in March.
Sources in the security establishment said the force is also set to get sanctions from the Union Home ministry to raise at least nine fresh battalions soon. They said in order to bolster troop numbers along the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as many as 60 companies have been ordered to move towards the front in various areas like Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Three persons were killed and 17 others injured when Pakistani Rangers violated the ceasefire twice and heavily shelled civilian areas and border posts along the International Border in R S Pura and Arnia sectors of Jammu district on Friday, drawing retaliation from the Border Security Force.
Firing from across the border took place in several areas along the Line of Control and the International Border, drawing effective retaliation from the Indian troops, the officials said.
In the wilderness for a long time, former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has made an anti-India rant by saying Pakistan needs to 'incite' those 'fighting' in Kashmir.
The MHA said 2016 saw a significant increase in terrorist violence and casualties suffered by security forces in comparison to the year before. However, civilians casualties have decreased in comparison to 2015.
Firing mortar shells and using automatic weapons, Pakistani troops targeted civilian areas and forward security posts along the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The shelling from across the border started in Nowshera sector around 12.30 pm, ending over 12-hour-long lull in the border skirmishes which intensified after India's pre-emptive strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror camps at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan on Tuesday.
He called for delineation of the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) which China has refused earlier.
Pakistan should draw a red line whether it wants to talk to the Government of India or those who want to break India, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday asking it to make a "conscious" choice without which a dialogue is not possible.
Jaishankar noted that it would be difficult to say what will happen in the future as there are a lot of "contradictions and frictions" out there today.
Addressing party MPs at the general body meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the central hall of Parliament, she said when facing a significant national challenge, it has been the tradition in our country to bring Parliament into confidence.
This is the second major ceasefire violation along the IB this month and came despite Director General Military Operations of the two countries agreeing, on May 29, to implement the ceasefire pact of 2003 in "letter and spirit".
Rai Singh, 40, was injured in Sunday night's shelling from the Pakistani side along the line of control in the Rajouri sector in which three other BSF personnel were also injured. The condition of another BSF personnel was critical.
The outgoing BSF DG said that Head Constable Narender Singh was killed in an "action of the Border Action Team" of Pakistan.
Government will bring a resolution in Parliament against the one passed by Pakistan's National Assembly accusing Indian troops of "unprovoked aggression" on the Line of Control.
'China is in the middle of a substantial expansion of its nuclear weapon arsenal, which satellite images indicate includes the construction of over 300 new missile silos,' SIPRI's statement noted.
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.
But it is less adventurous. It seems, at last, that in its eighth decade, Pakistan has settled into being a parliamentary democracy just like Bangladesh has and like we have always been, observes Aakar Patel.
'It is for the first time in about five or six years that the LoC has been silent. That really bodes well for the future'
'When armies start attacking with clubs and batons, then at some point this can take an escalatory spiral and spin out of control.'
The further expansion and upgrade of the Chinese military does not augur well for India, which continues to confront an increasingly belligerent China on its borders, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Targeting forward posts and civilian areas along the Indo-Pak border, Pakistan has violated the ceasefire 96 times this year, the highest in the last eight years.
'We can't be outliers. We can't be bystanders. We have to be players.' 'The Taliban also need India to balance the winners in this game.'
Troops of Pakistan opened fire at Army posts and civilian areas in Poonch district on the Line of Control with automatic weapons and rockets for the fourth day in row on Wednesday prompting army to return fire.
In one of the worst ceasefire violations by Pakistan, 5 villagers were killed and 34 injured on Monday in heavy mortar shelling and firing from across the international border and Line of Control in Jammu and Poonch sectors, triggering strong condemnation by India
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
'Having spent four years in that country and been able to assess the thought process of their military up close, I am of the opinion that a reprisal is inevitable.' 'The Pak military lives in a high ego make believe world (even believing a nuclear war is fightable!) and I know they WILL respond soon enough,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
New Delhi's regional partners in restraining a belligerent China -- primarily the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore -- would like the Indian Navy to lock down the Indian Ocean Region, while the other partners can focus on deterring the PLA (navy) in the South China Sea, explains Ajai Shukla.
'The ISI is bound to exploit narcoterrorism.'
The Chinese numbers had surged significantly during the summer season as they brought in a large number of troops for summer training. They have now gone back to their rear locations.
Militant outfits based in Pakistan want to disrupt the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls by "desperately" trying to push their cadre into the Indian side to carry out terror activities, an army official has said.
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.
The Indian position on the Russia-Ukraine war and the unconditional treaty between China and Russia appear to have caused some ripples in India-US relations and led to a reappraisal of India's usefulness to the US in the eventuality of a conflict with China, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The talks will focus on 'delimitation of the border, boundary management and a host of bilateral and international issues'.
A total of 146 militancy-related incidents took place between January 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016, leaving 169 people -- 108 militants, 39 security personnel and 22 civilians -- dead. A total of 181 incidents of border firing were reported during the same period in the state which left 22 persons including eight security personnel dead and 75 others, including 13 security men injured
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two ministers discussed the outstanding issues related to disengagement from all friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
Officials working in the building will not be allowed inside the premises from Sunday.
