The Indian Army on Friday strongly insisted on early disengagement of troops by China from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh at the eighth round of corps commander-level talks between the two sides that primarily focused on a roadmap for restoration of peace and tranquillity in the region, according to people familiar with the developments.
Lieutenant General Wei Fenghe's, China's new defence minister's, first guest of honour could be his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman.
After heightened tension in Chumar area in Northeast Ladakh for four days, Chinese troops on Thursday night began withdrawing from the Indian territory, official sources said.
'When the adversary has tasted what you can do, he is going to be more experienced in countering how the Indians think.' 'He will go back, rework and come back.'
'Indian diplomacy faltered amidst multiple failures of statecraft.' 'The functionaries responsible must be held to account for their abject failure,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It marks a breakthrough in the country's warship building sector,' said the PLA Daily.
'We will not accept these misadventures by the Chinese.'
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.
A group of shepherds were asked to vacate the land by troops of the PLA.
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
The navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region deploying a plethora of warships and submarines to create pressure points on China as the maritime space around the Malacca Strait is very critical for its supply chain through sea routes.
China's National Health Commission in its daily report on Monday said that 2,829 new cases of coronavirus were reported nationwide on February 2, taking the total number of infection to 17,205.
Sources indicated that during Saturday's talks, India will insist on a faster disengagement process in remaining areas to bring down tension in the region, which has witnessed a tense standoff between the two militaries for over nine months.
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Chinese officials have refuted allegations of the country's army assisting militants in northeast India, saying such charges are "absurd" and such a linkage is "impossible".
As per the sources, the discussions between the two sides include pulling back tanks and armoured vehicles from their present positions, and some development in this regard is likely to take place in the next few days.
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The Army has also further bolstered overall surveillance mechanisms in all areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after foiling China's fresh attempt to occupy an area on the southern bank of Pangong lake, they said.
India has hit back at China over its assertion that deployment of the BrahMos cruise missile in the Northeast would have 'negative influence' on stability along the border, saying that assets deployed by it within its territory are of no concern to Beijing.
'When you look at the border -- from Ladakh to Arunachal -- which is called the Sino-Indian border, but in effect it is actually the Indo-Tibet border.' 'Since the borders are still not secure, it has resulted in transgressions in Galwan, Dokalam etc.'
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'If our troops on the frontlines were sleeping for two hours, they can perhaps now sleep for 2.5 hours because when the adversary is right in front, then you can't even blink your eyes, you have to be absolutely alert.'
He said there were no signs of an "overt collusion" between China and Pakistan during the Ladakh standoff but India also caters to a long term strategy for not a two, but a two-and-half front war. With the half front, he was referring to the internal security.
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
'Clarifying that modernisation of national defence and armed forces should be completed by 2035, Xi Jinping asserted the goal is to make the People's Liberation Army a "world class force" that "can fight and win" by 2050,' points out former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
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'New Delhi showed itself willing -- at least for a period -- to tolerate the risk of conflict and to withstand Beijing's implicit and explicit threats.' 'But it also continued to try to cut some kind of deal with China to reduce tensions.'
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China for the first time has divulged the deployment of a nuclear submarine for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, a move defence experts say could cause unease among neighbours, including India.
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As it modernises its 2.3 million strong military with hefty defence spending, China is offering "well-educated" youth offers of preferential policies, ranging from promotions and access to advanced education to join its People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Chinese army on Wednesday reportedly made a fresh incursion in Chumar area and refused to return even as a flag-meeting between the two sides is believed to have made no headway in breaking the deadlock.
The focus of the deliberations was on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh.
"CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) territorial aggression is also apparent on its Indian border where China has attempted to seize control of the Line of Actual Control by force," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a remark on China early this week in Utah.
'Our biggest advantage is that the troops are much better trained and motivated than the Chinese and can improvise and manage with a part of the resources.'
China's defence ministry on Wednesday denounced as "groundless" the accusation by a US security firm that a secretive PLA unit is engaged in sophisticated cyber espionage around the world, saying the allegation lacked technical proof and legal basis.
As a tense stand-off continues on the Sino-Indian border in Ladakh, where a Chinese patrol has apparently established a camp eight km inside India, the ministry of defence is confronted with a difficult decision -- an inexplicable army proposal to shift top generals, which would see key hotspots being placed under new commanders, unfamiliar with the situation.
