India Holds Lt General-Level Talks With China; Army Chief, Top Commanders Review LAC Situation

Indian and Chinese militaries on Monday held a second round of Lt General-level talks in an attempt to ease tensions between the two countries following the violent clashes in Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead, even as country's top army leadership carried out a detailed review of the situation in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting began at around 11:30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh and continued till night.

The focus of the deliberations was on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the issue said.

The first round of the Lt Gen talks was held on June 6 at the same venue during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.

However, the situation along the border deteriorated following the violent clashes on June 15 as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the 3,500-km de-facto border.

Though China has not revealed its casualty figure, there were reports that a commanding officer of the Chinese army was among those killed in the clashes. There is no official confirmation about it.

Separately, the top army commanders on Monday held a detailed deliberation on the eastern Ladakh standoff and on the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China after the Galwan Valley clashes, official sources said.

On the first day of the two-day conference, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane carried out a comprehensive review of India's security preparedness along the LAC with China in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, they said.

The government has given "full freedom" to the armed forces, deployed along the 3,500-km de-facto border with China, to give a "befitting" response to any Chinese misadventure, government sources said after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation in eastern Ladakh at a meeting with the top military brass on Sunday.

The Army has already sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border in the last one week. The IAF has also moved a sizable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft and Apache attack helicopters to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar following the clashes.

The Indian delegation at the talks in Moldo was led by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh while the Chinese was headed by the Commander of the Tibet Military District.

Ahead of the meeting, sources said the Indian delegation would raise the Galwan Valley clashes, the most serious military confrontation between India and China in more than 50 years.

In a telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called the clashes a "premeditated" action by Chinese PLA and held it directly responsible for the incident.

The Chinese soldiers used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs in carrying out brutal attacks on Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan.

The sources said India would also seek restoration of status quo ante in all areas including the Pangong Tso where the two sides are on a standoff.

After the clashes, the two sides held at least three-rounds of Major-General level talks to explore ways to ease the situation between the two sides.

The two armies were engaged in a standoff in Galwan and several other areas of eastern Ladakh since May 5 when their troops clashed on the banks of the Pangong Tso.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.