Rajnath reviews ground situation NSA, CDS, 3 Services chiefs attend meet

| | New Delhi
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Rajnath reviews ground situation NSA, CDS, 3 Services chiefs attend meet

Saturday, 12 September 2020 | PNS | New Delhi

With no let-up in tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed the ground situation with the military top brass and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. 

The high-level meeting also took stock of the outcome of talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and prepared the roadmap for forthcoming Corps Commander-level talks likely to take place next week.

The nearly two-hour long meeting was also attended by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and three Services chiefs. In a briefing to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on defence on Friday, Rawat assured that the Armed forces are ready for any eventuality.  The meeting was attended by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

The CDS informed the committee that the Armed forces had taken adequate steps and measures to thwart any attempt by China to further change or alter the status quo along the LAC, sources said.  Defence forces are alert and will give a befitting reply to the Chinese in case of any misadventure that takes place along the border, Rawat said.

Rajnath’s fact checking session comes a day after the Foreign Ministers of India and China agreed on a five-point plan for speedy disengagement and de-escalation besides continuing the dialogue process.

Given the big trust deficit as China has so far refused to withdraw its troops and instead tried fresh transgressions late last month, the Defence Minister was apprised of the strategy to deal with the situation in the coming days, sources said.

The next ten to 12 days are crucial after Jaishankar-Wang talks as it remains to be seen if the disengagement plan is implemented on the ground by local Chinese commanders, they said.

The Corps Commanders of the two Armies are likely to meet again next week to discuss the modalities of the pull back of the troops from all the friction points including the contentious Pangong Tso (lake) in Eastern Ladakh. The two commanders have held five rounds of parleys in the last three months but little progress was made.

Meanwhile, India and China held Brigadier level talks at Chushul on Friday.

The talks began at 10am and went on till 3pm, sources said adding the latest  interaction is a continuation of a series of interactions at the lower level to keep channels of communication open as also keep the tensions under control.

On the situation on the north bank of Pangong Tso, they said there is no change in the ground situation and the Chinese troops continue to sit on ridgelines of “Finger 4”. Recently, the Indian Army has occupied some heights in the north and west of “Finger 4” a few hundred metres away. The Chinese are positioned on three-four hill tops and the Indian Army have occupied same number or more which are at the same height and some more dominant to the north and west of them, sources said.

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