PM Modi meets NSA Doval, CDS Rawat to discuss India-China face-off

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (May 26) held a high-level meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and the chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Force. A separate meeting was held earlier with the foreign secretary.

Sources said Union defence minister Rajnath Singh had met the three service chiefs earlier and briefed them. The series of meetings comes at a time when Chinese and Indian troops have been engaged in a face-off in Sikkim and Ladakh.

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At least 15 to 20 members of an Indian patrol team were involved in hand-to-hand combat at the Line of Control on May 9. The face-off between China and India started after China reportedly expressed its displeasure about the construction of a road and bridge in the Galwan area by India. A senior officer told NDTV that the road was constructed to help the local population.

Meanwhile, satellite pictures have shown that Beijing is expanding an airbase near Ladakh, and close shots have even revealed fighter jets on the tarmac. China, in a notice on its embassy website on May 26, offered to fly back its citizens who wanted to return home.

India will not permit any alteration of the status quo on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a Hindustan Times report quoted people familiar with the developments as saying on Tuesday. They reportedly said that India had faced similar situations in the past and that the country will face the situation with “strength and restraint.”

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the Centre to come clear on what is happening at the border with China in Ladakh and be more transparent. “I think, on the India-China issue, we would like to see some more transparency on what is going on. It becomes very difficult for us to have a position without understanding the facts,” he told reporters during a virtual press conference.

(With inputs from agencies)