Verma also sought quashing of a note issued by the defence ministry rejecting his plea against Singh's appointment.
As the border standoff entered the sixth month, an early resolution to the row appeared dim with close to 100,000 Indian and Chinese troops remaining deployed in the high-altitude region and showing readiness for a long-haul. There is no official word on the talks yet but sources said the agenda was to finalise a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points.
The incident had taken place at a time when the Indian Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, was in Moscow for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, where he met his Chinese counterpart to address the border issues.
China has increased its antics in Taiwan Strait post the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-governed island.
The new 17 Strike Corps with 80,000 troops and a budget of Rs 64,000 crore will provided the much-needed offensive capacity against China. R S Chauhan reports.
The Chinese and Indian armies continued with the disengagement process in the North and South banks of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh as per plan and the entire pullback exercise is expected to take another six-seven days, sources in the defence and security establishment said on Monday.
Keeping trusted men in key positions at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar has become vital for Bajwa, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The two sides have also agreed for a joint mechanism to verify the progress in the disengagement process through delegation meetings as well as using unmanned aerial vehicles.
"A strict vigil is being maintained in almost all the sectors with China from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh as the Chinese suffered a setback in the southern Pangong Tso area and may try to make fresh attempts to ingress into newer dormant areas," government sources told ANI.
The Indian Army has shown it can face down the PLA, but is too often held back by a political leadership that lacks boldness, asserts Ajai Shukla.
India's combat capability and readiness to confront any multi-dimensional security threat was elaborately tested at a four-day mega military exercise conducted in the Creek sector of the Kutch peninsula that concluded on Monday, military officials said.
After a gap of over two-and-half months, India and China on Sunday held the ninth round of military talks specifically focusing on ways to move forward on the long-negotiated disengagement process in eastern Ladakh as thousands of their troops remained deployed at friction points under freezing conditions.
The commissioning of the indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will contribute in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, Vice Chief of Indian Navy Vice Admiral S N Ghormade said on Thursday.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
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.
Vice Admiral Singh is scheduled to take charge as the new Navy chief from incumbent Admiral Sunil Lanba, who is set to demit office on May 31.
According to sources, the post at which the Chinese army has put up loudspeakers is under 24x7 constant watch by Indian soldiers and it is possible that the Chinese might be indulging in such drama to distract our troops or perhaps just relieve the pressure.
Military experts said the aim of constructing the bridge in the Khurnak area could be to ensure that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is able to quickly mobilise its troops in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his demise, saying Kumar contributed towards strengthening the country's maritime security.
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
There was no comment from the Indian side on the statement made by the Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian, and carried by China's official media.
Army columns equipped with boats, bulldozers and engineering equippment have been rushed to Nanded and Bhadrachalam districts.
The sources also said another round of military talks between the two sides on Wednesday to defuse tensions in the area remained inconclusive. The talks lasted nearly seven hours.
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.
'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.'
Sources said India will not lower its guard and will maintain the current state of very high-level of combat readiness in eastern Ladakh till there are visible changes in the ground situation.
'As long as we have such partners, Russia cannot be isolated.'
The intrusions into India were likely carried out by the PLA's better trained and equipped 'mobile operational units'.
'This reluctance to respond forcefully to Chinese PLA provocations and outright aggression has as much to do with Prime Minister Modi personally, as with the institutional mindset of the MEA or even the Indian Army.' 'They are scarred by the 1962 War and are still cowed by China.'
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan gave a brief account of the four-month-long standoff and said the Chinese side attempted to transgress the Line of Actual in several areas of the western sector since mid-May.
There is only one perpetrator, Hamas. It is a terrorist organisation. It is obscene to argue that until the Palestinian question is solved, anybody has the right to use terrorism as an instrument of policy, argues Shekhar Gupta.
The inquiry teams had started their work on the very next day the incident took place. The statements are being recorded and in one or two cases, some people have changed their account of the incidents, they said.
'In the 1971 War my battalion suffered 4 casualties after fighting for 14 days.' 'In Operation Blue Star, I lost 19 men in just one hour.'
The eastern theatre command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army successfully completed all tasks of its combat readiness patrols and exercises around Taiwan Island, official media in Beijing reported.
The Southern Naval command on Wednesday called off its 14-day long rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala, saying there were no more requests for evacuation as waters receding in affected areas.
Both countries have reached a mutual agreement for disengagement of troops from the most contentious area of North and South Pangong Lake.
The sources said the focus of the talks was to take forward the disengagement process in friction points like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
Tan said that China has always stressed that military cooperation of relevant countries, especially on exercises and training activities, should not be targeted at any third party, but rather serve to help maintain regional peace and stability.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India is committed to resolve all issues through dialogue, noting the way ahead to address the issue is negotiations.
