RAJNATH MEETS HEADS OF MILITARY
NEWDELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday carried out a comprehensive review of the situation in eastern Ladakh with top military brass in view of the withdrawal of troops from the friction points by China’s People’s Liberation Army, government sources said.
NEWDELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday carried out a comprehensive review of the situation in eastern Ladakh with top military brass in view of the withdrawal of troops from the friction points by China’s Peoples Liberation Army, government sources said.
The defence minister carried out the review at a meeting with Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria besides several other senior military officials.
Gen Naravane gave a detailed account of the implementation of the first phase of mutual disengagement of troops from Galwan Valley, Gogra, Hot Springs and Finger 4 areas in Pangong Tso, the sources said.
They said the Army chief apprised Singh about combat readiness of the Indian Army in the region to deal with any eventualities and presented a detailed update of situation in all the sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh as well as in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
As the first phase of the disengagement is nearing completion, government sources said the two sides are set to hold a fourth round of corps commander-level dialogue by early next week to finalise modalities for de-induction of troops amassed by both sides in their rear bases along the LAC, the de-facto border between the two countries.
Both sides have completed creation of a buffer zone of three kilometres in the three friction points of Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Springs as part of a temporary measure, they said, adding there has been thinning out of troops from Finger 4 area in Pangong Tso as well.
The disengagement of troops from the friction points formally kicked off on Monday following eight weeks of eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two armies at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh. The Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks. The tension escalated manifold after a violent clash in Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.
At a press briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said, “The diplomatic and military officials of both sides will continue their meetings to take forward the process of disengagement and de-escalation as agreed to by the
Special Representatives. The next meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC) is expected to take place soon.”
Srivastava’s remarks came as the first phase of disengagement between armies of India and China at friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh has been completed and the talks for the second phase are expected to begin in next few days.
On July 5, the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question-- Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi--- had a ‘frank and in-depth exchange’ during a telephone conversation during which they agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously.
As part of the first phase of disengagement, Chinese troops have moved back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 in the Finger area. They have already moved back by around two kilometres in the other friction points including Galway valley, Hot Springs and Patrolling Point-15, top government sources told ANI.
The Indian side has also moved back as per the mutual disengagement agreed upon during the Corps Commander-level talks, the sources added. The vacant spaces will be treated as temporary non-patrolling zones by both sides and their troops will not come there.