Rajnath’s planned visit to Ladakh rescheduled: Sources

PTI, Jul 2, 2020, 6:07 PM IST

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s planned visit to Ladakh on Friday has been rescheduled, official sources said on Thursday.

It was not immediately known why the visit has been postponed.

The sources said Singh will “soon” undertake the visit to Ladakh to take stock of India’s military preparedness in the region where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a seven-week bitter border standoff.

The defence minister was to be accompanied by Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane.

The Army Chief visited Ladakh on June 23 and 24 during which he held a series of meetings with senior Army officials and visited various forward areas in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks.

The tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.