India-China Highlights (June 18): No soldier critical as of now, all are stable, says Indian Army

Whole world is now not very much interested to deal with China, it's a blessing in disguise for Indian economy. A lot of people from different parts of the world want to deal with India, in this situation we need to increase our export& reduce import: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (ANI)

Interstate movement of personnel of armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces has been relaxed in Himachal Pradesh in the wake of the recent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, an official said on Thursday. There is now no requirement of any e-pass or permit for interstate movement of the personnel of armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in Himachal Pradesh, state Chief Secretary Anil Kumar Khachi said. (PTI) 

58 personnel that are at other hospitals have minor injuries, hence the optimistic timeframe of one week for their recovery: Indian Army Sources (ANI)

No one critical as of now, all are stable. 18 soldiers are at our hospital in Leh, they will be out on duty in about 15 days. 58 soldiers are at other hospitals they should be back on duty within a week. Status as of today afternoon: Indian Army Sources (ANI)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked the military to improve its management practices to promote high-quality development of the armed forces, the official media reported on Thursday. Xi, who heads the country’s military “made the important instruction at a teleconference on strategic management training of the armed forces”, Xinhua news agency reported. His comments on military modernisation came amid heightened tensions with India along the Line of Actual Control. |READ MORE

Leh: People under the banner of Ladakh Buddhists Association took out a candle march today to pay tribute to the 20 Indian Army personnel who lost their lives in Galwan Valley clash with China. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written letters expressing his condolences to the families of the 20 Indian Army personnel, who lost their lives in Galwan Valley clash with China. (ANI)

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said India should no longer depend on China and instead focus on research and innovation to ramp up domestic manufacturing. The minister also said the government is working on formulating a new policy for import substitution. The remarks come in the wake of border clashes between the two nations in Ladakh. |READ MORE

The Indian Army on Thursday trashed media reports claiming that a number of its soldiers went missing after the violent clashes with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh three days back. "It is clarified that there are no Indian troops missing in action," the Army said in a statement. There have been reports that several Indian Army soldiers were held captive by the Chinese Army following the Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian Army personnel including a Colonel were killed. China has not yet released any casualty figures. (PTI) 

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is open to boycotting Chinese products and sponsors in the wake of the border clash between the two countries at Galwan valley earlier this week. Anti-China sentiments are running high in the country after the first skirmish at the India-China border in more than four decades left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Insisting that they are "with the country", IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta said the Olympic body is mulling boycotting Chinese sponsors like 'Li Ning' with whom they have sponsorships deal till the Tokyo Olympics. "We have an agreement with Li Ning till Tokyo Olympics as a kitting partner. But the country comes first and IOA is no different on this. If the members feel so the General House can take decision (to snap ties)," Mehta told PTI. (PTI)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked the military to improve its management practices to promote high-quality development of the armed forces, the official media reported on Thursday. Xi, who heads the country's military "made the important instruction at a teleconference on strategic management training of the armed forces", Xinhua news agency reported. His comments on military modernisation came amid heightened tensions with India along the Line of Actual Control and a range of differences with the United States, including on Beijing's flexing of muscles in the strategic South and East China seas. (PTI)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend a virtual conference of the Russia-India-China trilateral on June 23 which is being held in the backdrop of a violent border clash between Chinese and Indian troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava confirmed Jaishankar's participation in the meeting. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will be the other two participants at the conference. Uncertainty had loomed over the meeting following the cross border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley on Monday evening. (PTI) 

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met today with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Member Yang Jiechi in Honolulu, Hawaii to exchange views on US-China relations: Morgan Ortagus, Spokesperson for US State Department (ANI)

At a meeting today to review security scenario in the Union Territory, Dilbag Singh, Jammu and Kashmir DGP, in view of the Ladakh standoff, Pakistan will try to infiltrate more terrorists and also give impetus to violence in Kashmir valley and elsewhere.

India today asked China to confine its activities to its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). China must not take any unilateral action to alter it, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press conference. While referring to the Galwan Valley clash, the MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that India was strongly committed to ensuring the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Srivastava also said that no Indian soldiers were missing since the Galwan Valley clash on Monday evening. "Given its responsible approach to border management, India is very clear that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC. We expect the Chinese side to also confine its activities to its side of the LAC," Srivastava said.

PTI reports that Kolkata's Chinese community is wary of 1962 rerun. The Chinese community in the city is one of the largest in the country and is apprehensive that the escalation of the conflict between the two Asian giants would hamper their lives and livelihood. There are around 4,000 Chinese left in the city, down from 20,000 as most of them migrated to Hong Kong, Canada and Australia after the 1962 war. The community is apprehensive of even speaking about the escalation of tension between the two countries. Its members do not want to attract attention as they fear a backlash in view of the situation.

In view of poor progress, it is decided by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) to terminate the contract with Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Co. Ltd. The contract was awarded in 2016, it had a completion period of 3 years. It should have been completed by Aug 2019 but only 20% of work has been done. Therefore Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India took the decision to terminate the contract, says VK Yadav, Chairperson Railway Board. (ANI)

News agency ANI reports that Major General-level talks between India and China are over after more than six hours. All the personnel who took part in the Galwan valley operations on June 15-16 are accounted for and no personnel are missing in action.

MEA Spokesperson today confirmed that India will participate in RIC (Russia-India-China) foreign ministers meeting on June 23. At a press conference today, the MEA also said that while India remains convinced of the need for maintenance of peace and tranquillity on border areas and resolution of differences through dialogue, at the same time as PM said yesterday, we are strongly committed to ensuring India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs today said that the Chinese side unilaterally tried to change the status quo along the LAC in the Galwan Valley. The attack on the Indian soldiers from Chinese side was pre-meditated. The ministry said this during a press conference that the two sides are in touch at the ground level.

Amid row with China, the Indian Air Force has pushed a proposal to the government for acquiring 33 new fighter aircraft, including 21 MiG-29 and 12 Su-30MKIs from Russia, ANI reported. It quotes government sources as saying that the Air Force has been working on this plan for some time but they have now fast-tracked the process and the proposals are expected to be worth over Rs 6000 crore.

Indian Army has said that no Indian Troops is missing in action. "It is clarified that there are no Indian troops missing in action", ANI reports Indian Army Sources as saying. The Army's clarification comes in response to a media report which claimed that Indian troops were missing in action after the clash at Galwan valley.

Indian Army said, "This is with reference to the article 'In China-India Clash, Two Nationalist Leaders with Little Room to Give' by New York Times dated 17 June 2020. It is clarified that there are no Indian troops Missing In Action."

EAM S jaishankar tweeted: Let us get the facts straight. All troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post. Those at Galwan on 15 June did so. Long-standing practice (as per 1996 & 2005 agreements) not to use firearms during faceoffs. EAM was replying to Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi's charge that soldiers were "sent unarmed to martyrdom."

What is the Delhi-Meerut RRTS project? It's India's first regional rapid transit system that will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Meerut to just 55 minutes. But why is it news with regards to the India-China border standoff. Read on

India must not misjudge the current situation or underestimate China's firm will to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson has tweeted.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Thursday tweeted, "Indian front-line troops broke the consensus and crossed the Line of Actual Control, deliberately provoking and attacking Chinese officers and soldiers, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties."

The bodies of two soldiers from West Bengal, who were killed in the Galwan Valley clash with the Chinese Army, are scheduled to arrive at their homes on Thursday evening, an Army spokesperson said here. The casket carrying the body of Sepoy Rajesh Orang will reach the Panagarh Air Force base in West Burdwan district in a military aircraft in the afternoon and will then be taken to his home in Belgoria village in Birbhum district by road, he said. The mortal remains of Havildar Bipul Roy will be flown to the Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri, from where the coffin will be taken to his native Bindipara village in Alipurduar district by road, he said. The two bravehearts were among the 20 Indian Army jawans killed in clashes with China's People's Liberation Army in Galwan Valley of Ladakh. (PTI)

The clash in Galwan Valley is the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while the death toll on the Chinese side was over 300.

Indian and Chinese militaries held Major General-level dialogue on Thursday for the third consecutive day on disengagement of troops as well as restoration of normalcy in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, official sources said. Read More

The Shiv Sena on Thursday said it is "shocking" that a detailed account of the standoff in Galwan Valley has not been public and if it is true that the Chinese intruded into the Indian territory, then it is an attack on the country's sovereignty. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said in the last six years, there has been a "propaganda" that India has become strong under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule. "But in this period, Pakistan, Nepal, and now China have directly attacked us. We don't have good relations with our neighbours and it is surprising that claims are made by our politicians of winning the world," it said. (PTI)

Amid chants of "Bharat mata ki jai", the mortal remains of Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu, who was killed by Chinese troops during clashes, were consigned to flames with full military honours here on Thursday. Thousands of people wearing masks chanting "Santosh Babu amar rahe" and "Vande Mataram" participated in the funeral procession even as scores, standing on balconies of their respective places showered flowers on the army vehicle which was carrying the body. (PTI)

BJP defers its political programmes, virtual rallies for two days as mark of respect to soldiers who sacrificed lives in Ladakh: J P Nadda (PTI)

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials were silent on the casualties suffered by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops, but Hu Xijin, the editor of the ruling Communist Party-run Global Times tabloid, tweeted to say that there are casualties on Chinese side too. (PTI)

Bihar reacted with a blend of grief, anger and the spirit to make sacrifices in national interest, as news reached that the stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh has killed 20 soldiers of the country, five of them hailing from the state. Political rivalries were set aside for the moment as Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and other ministers stood beside Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and Jan Adhikar Party founder Pappu Yadav at the airport here when the mortal remains of Havildar Sunil Kumar were brought by a special aircraft. (PTI)

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said the two sides agreed to "cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible", and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area in accordance with the agreement reached so far between the two countries. (PTI)

News agency PTI has quoted a top military official as saying, "The rules of engagement will be different from now onwards. The prime minister has spelt out the broad policy about it."

The Indian Army has rushed its additional troops along with weaponry to all the important frontline bases long LAC, states a PTI report. The troops have been rushed to bases in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, the report said.

In view of the violent clashes with Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley, the Indian Navy has also been asked to raise its alert-level, according to a PTI report. The alert-level has been raised in the Indian Ocean Region where the Chinese Navy makes frequent forays.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday raised questions about why Indian Army soldiers were sent "unarmed to martyrdom" in Galdwan Valley.