Top Army brass meets PM amid China border tension Army officers to review in Ladakh in 3-day meet today

New Delhi, May 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a meeting with national security adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs with a focus on bolstering India’s military preparedness to deal with external security challenges, government sources said.

The meeting came hours after the top four generals briefed defence minister Rajnath Singh about the situation in Pangong Tso lake, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi where the Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in aggressive posturing for the last 20 days.

People in the military establishment said the Prime minister was briefed about the situation in Ladakh. There was no official comment or details available about the meeting. Official sources said NSA Doval has been closely monitoring the evolving situation along the LAC.

The military brass is learnt to have apprised Mr 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.

Top commanders of the Army will also carry out an in-depth review of the tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in several areas of eastern Ladakh at a three-day conference beginning on Wednesday.

They will also deliberate on the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides delving into issues having national security implications, they said.

However, the main focus will be on the situation in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an eyeball-toeyeball face-off in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie, the sources said.

Both India and China have significantly increased their presence in all sensitive areas in the region, signalling that the

confrontation may not see a resolution anytime soon. There have been efforts by both sides to resolve it through talks.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent faceoff on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to “disengage”

following a meeting at the level of local commanders.

Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

The commanders’ conference was originally scheduled to be held from April 13-18.

BOTH INDIA and China have significantly increased their presence in all sensitive areas in the region, signalling that the confrontation may not see a resolution anytime soon