Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviews situation in eastern Ladakh, meets PM Modi
Since Saturday, a series of military-level talks are being conducted along the border where PLA troops have intruded into four locations in Eastern Ladakh but early gains, like the ‘limited disengagement’, have not resulted in the easing of the si...
NEW DELHI: After a series of military-level talks on the Ladakh border, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took stock of the situation on Friday and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the matter further. Singh met Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, and the three service chiefs earlier in the day.
Since Saturday, a series of military-level talks are being conducted along the border where PLA troops have intruded into four locations in Eastern Ladakh but early gains, like the ‘limited disengagement’, have not resulted in the easing of the situation.
Thousands of troops from both sides remain deadlocked over a large stretch of the LAC –– at Galwan, Gogra and the finger area of Pangong Tso lake. PLA troops have intruded into Indian territory and set up camps in places that both sides used to patrol earlier. Sources said while there was limited disengagement after the Lt Gen level talks on Saturday, there has been no reduction in overall soldier deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and heavy armour and artillery formations brought to forward locations by the PLA remain in place.
The Chinese side has also not withdrawn troops from the Finger 4 area along the Pangong Tso lake, that has effectively cut off an area over 50 sq km that Indian troops used to patrol in the past. PLA bunkers on the base and top of Finger 4 are still manned by armed troops.
Sources said that satellite and UAV reconnaissance have also picked up activity on the Chinese side of the LAC in the area between the Galwan valley and Pangong Tso lake. This area, along with Patrol Points 14 to 27, has seen the bulk of the Chinese build-up during the current crisis. The activity points to road construction activity by China and the movement of heavy construction vehicles. At least two new roads are believed to be under construction by the Chinese side in the past two weeks to enable faster movement of its troops along the axis.
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As reported, the Chinese incursions in Galwan valley are targeted towards stopping the construction of a bridge and feeder road by the Indian side. The incursions are particularly worrying as they could impact the safety of the critical Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road that supplies troops posted in Sub Sector North and close to the Karakoram Pass.
