BeijingChinese President Xi Jinping held a video conversation with troops deployed along the India-China border in eastern Ladakh and inspected their battle preparedness, official media here reported on Friday. Xi addressed troops at the border defense position in Khunjrab under the Xinjiang Military Command from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) headquarters here.
Xi, who is also general secretary of China’s ruling Communist Party and commander-in-chief of the PLA, told troops in his remarks how “in recent years, the region is constantly changing” and how this was reflected in official media. According to the video, the army was impressed.
What Xi reportedly said during the call
During the call, he “inspected their combat readiness”, the report said. One of the soldiers replied that they were now “dynamic” and “24-hour” monitoring the border. Xi asked about their condition and whether they had been able to “get fresh vegetables” in the difficult terrain.
Official media reported that Xi had asked the border troops “about their border patrolling and management work” and “honored the troops as models of border defense and encouraged them to persevere in their efforts and make new contributions”. encouraged.”
Eastern Ladakh is the region where the standoff between India and China started on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.
The two sides have held 17 rounds of high-level military talks on the eastern Ladakh border standoff, but there has been no significant progress in resolving the remaining issues.
India has asserted that peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations with China.