Rajnath meets leaders from Ladakh to hear admin views
Majority of outfits in Kargil want reunification with J&K, statehood restored
Ahead of a planned meeting between leaders of a group of political parties and groups of Kargil and the Centre in New Delhi early next month, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday met the elected representatives of both Kargil and Leh districts, which comprise the Union Territory of Ladakh to ascertain their views on the demand for more legislative, executive and financial powers and administrative issues related to the landlocked region.
While a Leh-based group of political and socio-religious entities and political parties have along with BJP MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal sought a separate legislature for the Ladakh UT, a vast majority of similar outfits in Kargil want reunification of Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of its statehood as existed on August 4, 2019.
The Centre has invited leaders of Kargil’s key political and social groups which formed an alliance called Kargil Democratic Alliance after J&K was stripped of its special status and bifurcated nearly two years ago for holding talks with Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy in New Delhi on July 1.
Reports from Leh said the defence minister, who began a three-day tour of Ladakh earlier Sunday, had discussions with elected representatives of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil in Leh. The meeting was also attended by senior UT government officials. It is learnt the representatives of the two councils apprised Mr Singh of the “demands, aspirations and various issues” of their respective regions.
Earlier, the defence minister, while addressing about 300 Army veterans at Rinchen Auditorium Hall in Leh, said the Prime Minister has fulfilled the commitment given to armed forces veterans by granting “one rank one pension”. He assured them his ministry’s resolve was to take care of all defence personnel “the way they take care or have taken care of the country”.
Mr Singh is due to inaugurate infrastructure projects constructed by the Border Roads Organisation and interact with troops deployed along the borders with China and Pakistan during his visit.
Accompanied by Army Chief Gen. M.M. Naravane, the defence minister will on Monday dedicate to the nation the “Kyungam Bridge” built by the BRO deep inside Ladakh. “The bridge is quite vital for road connectivity in the strategically important region,” an official said.
He will have a comprehensive review of India’s operational readiness in the backdrop of last year’s faceoff with China along the Ladakh-Tibet border and will also visit various key formations and highaltitude bases in eastern Ladakh “to assess the ground situation as well as to boost the morale of the troops guarding the Line of Actual Control in a hostile environment”. Later, he will be given a detailed briefing about the overall situation in eastern Ladakh at the Lehbased headquarters of 14 Corps of the Army, which is responsible for guarding the LAC in Ladakh. This is the defence minister’s first visit to Ladakh after the Indian and Chinese militaries pulled back troops, tanks, infantry and other equipment from the Pangong Lake areas in February as part of a bilateral agreement.