Rajnath Singh holds talks with Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in Moscow amid border tension in Ladakh

Sources said it was the Chinese who requested a bilateral meet with Singh after Indian troops turned tables on PLA soldiers

With tensions running high along the 826-km Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow to find a way out of the crisis that kept the two armies on tenterhooks.

This is the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May, though Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the row.

Read: Business cannot be as usual with China before PLA restores status quo: India

Singh and Wei were in Moscow to attend a meeting of the Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that took place earlier in the day.

At the SCO meeting, Singh highlighted the need to have "a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms, sensitivity to each other’s interest and peaceful resolution of differences" for a peaceful, stable and secure region.

Sources said it was the Chinese side that requested a bilateral meeting with Indian defence minister Singh after Indian troops turned the tables on the People’s Liberation Army soldiers.

While Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter standoff in multiple places in eastern Ladakh since May, it was only last week that Indian troops occupied the heights on the southern banks of the Pangong Tso as well as on both shoulders of the Spanggur Gap and Rinchin La in response to Chinese aggression.

As a consequence, Indian soldiers now have a vantage position to watch China’s Moldo garrison across the Spanggur Gap.

Also Read: Field commanders of Indian, Chinese armies hold interaction in eastern Ladakh

In addition, the Indian Army is also set to dig its heels in eastern Ladakh in the harsh winter to ensure that dominating heights remain under Indian control. Army Chief Gen M M Naravane was given a special briefing on the winter requirements of the troops at the end of his two-day trip to Ladakh.

On his return from the forward areas, Lt Gen Y K Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command and Lt General Harinder Singh, GOC, 14 Corps (Fire and Fury Corps) briefed Gen Naravane at Leh not only on the state of operational preparedness but also the logistics arrangements for sustenance of forces in winters.

The Army Chief expressed satisfaction on the efforts being made to ensure operational effectiveness and capability enhancement of the forces, an Indian Army spokesperson said in a statement.

The Army Chief carried out a comprehensive review of India's security preparedness in the region and visited a number of sensitive forward posts to have a first-hand assessment of the situation.

Gen Naravane said the Indian Army undertook precautionary deployment in some areas and that the force was well prepared to safeguard India’s territorial integrity. "The nation can count on us," he said.