Defence Minister Rajnath Singh likely to meet Chinese counterpart amid LAC faceoff

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will likely meet his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow after Beijing requested for the meet on Thursday, ANI reported quoting sources.

Amid the standoff between the two countries at the LAC in eastern Ladakh, Chinese Defence Minister, Wei Fenghe, sought a meeting with Singh on the sidelines of a key SCO meet. According to ANI sources, the Chinese side conveyed to the Indian mission its keenness to have a meeting between the two defence ministers.

India has urged China to sincerely engage with it to restore peace and tranquillity in border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation.

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Tensions flared in eastern Ladakh after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the Southern Bank of Pangong lake four days back when the two sides were engaged in diplomatic and military talks to resolve the festering border row. India occupied a number of strategic heights on the southern bank of Pangong lake and strengthened its presence in Finger 2 and Finger 3 areas in the region to thwart any Chinese actions. China has strongly objected to India's move.

'Talks only way forward for solution'

Meanwhile, India on Thursday said the border tension in Ladakh over the past four months is a "direct result" of Chinese actions aimed at effecting unilateral change in the status quo of the region and asserted that the only way forward to resolve it was through negotiations. At an online media briefing, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Chinese actions resulted in "violation" of the bilateral agreements and protocol which ensured peace and tranquillity in the border areas for close to three decades.

On the first day of his visit to Ladakh, Gen. Naravane visited a forward location and interacted with all top commanders tasked to oversee India's combat readiness in the region.

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