Defence Minister Rajnath Singh interacts with troops at Lukung Post

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached Leh on his two-day visit to Ladakh and Srinagar to take stock of the border situation on Friday. He also visited forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC). He was accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

New Delhi:Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Leh on Friday on a day-long visit to carry out a comprehensive review of the security scenario in the region in wake of the border row with China.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh interacts with troops at Lukung.

"Recently what happened between troops of India and China at PP14, how some of our personnel sacrificed their lives protecting our border. I am happy to meet you all but also saddened because of their loss. I pay my tributes to them."

• Indian Army T-90 tanks and BMP infantry combat vehicles carry out exercise at Stakna, Leh in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inspected a Pika machine gun at Stakna, Leh.
• Troops of Indian Armed Forces carried out para dropping exercise at Stakna, Leh in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

Taking to Twitter, Singh said, "Leaving for Leh on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. I shall be visiting the forward areas to review the situation at the borders and also interact with the Armed Forces personnel deployed in the region. Looking forward to it."

Singh's trip comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Ladakh on July 3 during which he also addressed troops and signalled the country's firmness in dealing with the India-China border row.

From Ladakh, the Defence Minister will travel to Srinagar where he will hold a high-level meeting with senior military officials on Saturday to review the situation along the Line of Control(LoC) with Pakistan, the sources said.

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Singh was originally scheduled to visit Ladakh on July 3 but it was deferred.

Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for over eight weeks since May 5.

The tension escalated manifold after the violent clashes in Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed.

However, following a series of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides began a mutual disengagement process on July 6 and withdrew troops from most of the friction points.

On Tuesday, senior commanders of the two armies held a fourth round of talks during which the Indian delegation conveyed a "very clear" message to the Chinese army that status quo must ante be restored in eastern Ladakh and China will have to follow all mutually agreed protocols for border management to bring back peace and tranquillity along the LAC, government sources said.

During the course of the intense and complex negotiations that lasted nearly 15 hours, the Indian delegation apprised the Chinese Army about the "red lines" and conveyed that the onus was largely on China to improve the overall situation in the region, the sources said.

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The key focus of the talks was learnt to be on rolling out the phase two of the disengagement process besides firming up modalities for withdrawal of forces and weapons from the rear bases in a time-bound and verifiable manner, the sources said, adding they were aimed at further de-escalation of the situation at various friction points.

(With inputs from agencies)