Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will not be meeting his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow, where both of them will be attending Wednesday’s Victory Day parade, as suggested by some Chinese websites, including the government mouthpiece Global Times, news agency ANI reported.
"Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe will attend Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow on Wednesday, and likely hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh over resolving border tensions: sources," Global Times had tweeted.
The development comes amid the border tensions between New Delhi and Beijing following last week's violent face-off at Ladakh's Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian troops lost their lives.
Advertisement
Singh is currently on a three-day visit to Moscow to attend the 75th Victory Day Parade. The visit comes amid heightened tensions between India and China following the Ladakh standoff.
The Indian Army on Tuesday had termed the Corps Commander level talks with China as “cordial, positive and constructive,” and said the two armies reached a mutual consensus to disengage.
The Army said that the modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh were discussed and will be taken forward by both sides.
The top-level military were held on Monday at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh and lasted for close to 11 hours.
Advertisement
India had earlier strongly raised with China the "pre-mediated" attack on Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley and demanded immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from all friction points in eastern Ladakh, during the second round of Lt General-level talks, people familiar with the development said.
As India's border tension with China escalated, top commanders of the Army carried out a comprehensive review of the entire situation in eastern Ladakh and resolved to deal with any Chinese misadventure with a "firm hand", they 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 in Galwan Valley on June 15 that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead.
Both sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the 3,500-km de-facto border after the clashes.
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.
(With inputs from agencies)
