Rajnath Singh to perform ‘shastra puja’ with jawans along LAC

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh will review the operational situation and military preparedness in the northeast sector during a visit over the weekend, amid the continuing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh with China.

Singh will leave on Saturday for the Sukna-based 33 Corps, a crucial Army formation that has the 17 (Gangtok), 27 (Kalimpong) and 20 (Binnaguri) Mountain Divisions (each division has 10,000-12,000 soldiers) earmarked for the LAC with China.

He will visit Sherathang, Nathu La and other forward areas near the LAC in Sikkim on Sunday. “The minister will get briefings and interact with troops. He will also perform ‘shastra puja’ at one of the forward locations on the occasion of Dussehra,” an official said.


Singh will review the progress of some infrastructure projects under ‘Project Swastik’ of the Border Roads Organisation in the sector, including an alternative access route in Sikkim.

The visit comes at a time when India and China are slated to hold the eighth round of corps commander-level talks to defuse the troop standoff in Ladakh. India has kept all Army formations and IAF air bases geared towards the three sectors of the unresolved 3,488-km LAC — western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal) —in a state of high alert in response to the Chinese military build-up along the border, as was earlier reported by TOI.