PM reviews security preparedness as India-China talks fail, accidentally fired missile lands in Pakistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the security preparedness of the nation on Sunday – two days after Indian Army’s 15th round of negotiations with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army failed to make any further headway in resolving the two-year-long military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Security and was briefed on the latest developments and different aspects of security preparedness in the border areas of India, as well as in the maritime and air domain, according to a press release.

A source in Delhi told DH that the Prime Minister was also briefed about the accidental firing of a missile from India and its landing in Pakistan.

Islamabad demanded a joint investigation after India admitted that one of its missiles had landed in Pakistan after being fired accidentally on March 9. Though India already ordered a “high-level Court of Inquiry”, Pakistan pointed out an internal probe would not be “sufficient” as the missile had fallen in its territory.

It called upon the international community to take serious notice of the accidental firing of the missile, noting that any countermeasure could have had grave consequences.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sithararam had attended the meeting. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval as well as other senior officials were present in the meeting.

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The Prime Minister reviewed the security preparedness of the nation just after the 15th round of negotiations between the military commanders of India and China failed to yield any breakthrough in resolving the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, although they agreed to continue dialogue.

Though the meeting between the military commanders of the two nations went on for more than 12 hours on Friday, they could not immediately reach an agreement for mutual withdrawal of front-line troops from Hot Springs area (Patrol Point 15) as well as from other face-off points along the LAC.

A deal for mutual withdrawal of the front-line troops from the Hot Springs area was being perceived as a “low-hanging fruit” for the negotiators to yield for the past few months.

The two sides, however, could not clinch the deal on Friday, just as they had failed to do it on January 12, when the 14th round of negotiations was held.

New Delhi and Beijing made the fresh attempt to resolve the stand-off even as the United States and the other western nations of late sought to draw a parallel between China’s aggression along its LAC with India and Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine. India, however, rejected the US argument, stating that the two situations were not analogous.

Protracted negotiations between India and China earlier had deals for disengagement of troops from Galwan Valley in June 2020, from both banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021 and from Gogra Post in August 2021. The stand-off however could not be resolved in other places along the LAC.

A spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi stated on Friday that “a technical malfunction” during the “course of a routine maintenance” had led to the “accidental firing” of the missile on March 9. The missile had landed at Mian Chunnu city in Punjab in Pakistan just seven minutes after entering the territory of the neighbouring country. India stated that the incident was “deeply regrettable”, but noted that it was also a matter of relief that it had not led to loss of life due to the accident.

India did not divulge the details of the missile but said that it was one of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles manufactured in collaboration with Russia.

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