Army Chief Briefs Defence Minister Rajnath Singh On Ladakh Situation

New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday to brief him about the Ladakh situation following rising tensions with China on the border. Gen. Naravane apprised the Defence Minister of developments in forward locations including China's troop build-up in the Depsang plains in North-Eastern Ladakh. The focus of the briefing is said to be the situation in Pangong Tso and Depsang in particular, experts say.

The Army Chief's meeting with the Defence Minister comes after his two-day visit to forward areas in Eastern Ladakh where he interacted with Corps Commanders and troops on the ground. During his two-day visit to the Indo-China border areas Gen. Naravane reviewed the situation in the Galwan Valley and other stand-off points where there has been build-up by the PLA.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Moscow to be a part of the 75th Victory Day celebrations. Rajnath Singh requested Russia to speed up supplies of defence spares needed by India. India's request assumes significance in the light of tensions with China in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

India and China came to a formal understanding on the process of disengagement in the Galwan Valley following a meeting at the Lieutenant-General level between both sides. However, even as Commander level talks at the local level were to take the process forward, China opened fresh fronts pushing troops into the Depsang plains.

India has responded to this by issuing the most stern message so far stating that the moves of the Chinese would have serious consequences on bilateral relations. India, in its statement, conveyed the blunt message that the economic relationship forged between the two nations would get impacted if the PLA did not de-escalate. The statement also said that India is quite capable of handling the military to military posture on the LAC.