Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visits Ladakh

LEH — On his pre-scheduled visit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Leh on Friday morning to review the latest situation on the Line of Actual Control (LaC) with China, after the June 15 clash with the Dragon, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and scores injured.

This was the second high profile visit of any top government functionary of the region, after the surprise visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi early this month in the backdrop of hostile posture adopted by China to annex Galwan Valley and some parts of Pangong Tso areas of Ladakh.

The Defence Minister is accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and Army chief, General MM Naravane on his two-day visit to the region.

According to the reports from Leh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while addressing the troops after his arrival in Ladakh, said, “Whatever talks have happened so far, the matter should get resolved… but to what extent it would be resolved, I cannot guarantee. However, I want to assure you that not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world.”

Rajnath Singh also visited Stakna forward post in the morning, where he witnessed “para dropping and other military exercises”.

He also visited the Lukung post near Pangong Lake. The Lukung post is in the northwestern side of lake, 43 km by road from the Finger 4 area, where the troops of India and China are in the process of disengagement, reporters accompanying the Defence minister said.

Lukung is a combined post, where the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police are stationed.

He interacted with the troopers and raised their morale against any external threat and assured them that the whole nation is behind the Defence forces, who are guarding the border of their country, risking their lives, in extreme hostile conditions.

Meanwhile, in a tweet before leaving for Leh, Defence Minister Rajnath 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 is scheduled to stay in Ladakh for the night, after which he will be flying to Srinagar on Saturday to review the situation at Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan as well.