Rajnath Singh to meet CDS, three service chiefs on current situation on LAC

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday will meet Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three services chiefs to discuss the current situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

The meeting will also review the overall security situation.

Asserting that India is committed to ensuring its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava said during a media briefing on Thursday, "The diplomatic and military officials of both sides will continue their meetings to take forward the process of disengagement and de-escalation as agreed to by the Special Representatives. The next meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC) is expected to take place soon."

Srivastava's remarks came as the first phase of disengagement between armies of India and China at friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh has been completed and the talks for the second phase are expected to begin in next few days.

On July 5, the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question-- Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi--- had a 'frank and in-depth exchange' during a telephone conversation during which they agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously.

As part of the first phase of disengagement, Chinese troops have moved back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 in the Finger area. They have already moved back by around two kilometers in the other friction points including Galway valley, Hot Springs and Patrolling Point-15, top government sources told ANI.

The Indian side has also moved back as per the mutual disengagement agreed upon during the Corps Commander-level talks, the sources added. The vacant spaces will be treated as temporary non-patrolling zones by both sides and their troops will not come there.