Army changes LAC combat rules after China clash: Key points in pictures

Sources said the government had asked the Army to adopt a different tactical approach in guarding the border - the LAC - with China.

After an incident of the violent face-off with China in Eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army has changed its rules of engagement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which would allow field commanders to order troops to use firearms under "extraordinary" circumstances.

The sources said the armed forces have been given full freedom to deal with any act of aggression by China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border between the two countries. At the all-party meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the armed forces had been given a free hand to take all necessary steps.

In another development, sources said the defence ministry has extended the financial powers given to three vice service chiefs to purchase ammunition and weapons up to Rs 500 crore per acquisition.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked India’s top military brass to be “fully prepared” to take any unprecedented action at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.

The sources said Rajnath Singh told the top military brass to maintain a strict vigil on Chinese activities around land border, airspace and in strategic sea lanes, and asked them to adopt a "tough" approach in dealing with any misadventure by Chinese forces.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft and Apache attack helicopters to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar in the last five days. Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria on Saturday said the IAF is "well prepared" and "suitably deployed" to counter any security challenge along the border with China and even hinted that his force has flown combat air patrols in the Ladakh region as part of heightened preparedness.

DoT may ask BSNL not to use Chinese equipment in 4G upgradation: Report

The development comes at a time when Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is set to ask state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) not to use Chinese telecom gear in its 4G upgradation, which is being supported as part of the company revival package, according to sources.

The development comes at a time when Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.

The standoff has stirred anti-China sentiments in India, with protesters and some trade bodies like CAIT calling for a boycott of Chinese products in protest to border standoff.

Sources privy to talks in the Telecom Department said it has been decided that BSNL will be asked not to use Chinese equipment in upgradation to 4G network, which is being supported by its revival package.

The department may also convey that the tender in this regard may need to be reworked. A similar message will be conveyed to Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), sources said.

The department is even considering measures to urge private telecom operators to bring down their dependence on Chinese-made telecom equipment.

In the past, there have been concerns around network security of Chinese equipment, sources pointed out.

India-China border tensions flare up as soldiers scuffle in Ladakh: Report

The tensions flared up even as the Indian Army is all set to hold a major exercise to test its new integrated battle groups in Arunachal Pradesh in October, added the report.

Tensions at the border between India and China flared up again on Wednesday after a prolonged confrontation between the troops of both countries in eastern Ladakh, the Times of India reported on Thursday.

Sources told the national daily that the face-off began soon after dawn on Wednesday on the northern bank of the 134-km-long Pangong Tso -- 'Tso' means lake -- two-thirds of which is controlled by China.

The tensions flared up even as the Indian Army is all set to hold a major exercise to test its new integrated battle groups (IBGs) in Arunachal Pradesh in October, added the report.

An unnamed source told ToI that Indian Army soldiers were on a patrol when People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers confronted them.

According to the source, the PLA soldiers "strongly objected" to the presence of the Indian soldiers in the area. The source added that this led to a scuffle between the soldiers of the two countries, with both sides sending in some reinforcements to the area. "The face-off was in progress at the site till the evening,” the source told the national daily.

In its response to the paper, the Indian Army said that delegation-level talks, led by brigadier-rank officers, had been "agreed to by the two sides" in accordance with the established bilateral mechanism to defuse such tensions.

"Such incidents often take place due to differing perceptions of where the Line of Actual Control (LAC) actually lies... they are usually resolved through border personnel meetings, flag meetings and the like," an unnamed officer told ToI.

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Cups of tea, pashmina and momos: Here's how to go touring India on a budget

In the Ladakh region of northern India, the town of Leh is known for its beauty and culture, and for the experience of buying a cashmere scarf.

I told the owner, George Sher Ali, that I’d been in his shop before, several years before, and his ears perked up. “Tell me what you bought,” he said, and reached for a tall stack of old assignment notebooks. “I will tell you exactly when you came in.”

I said I’d been into his art and print shop, L’Araba Fenice, roughly eight years ago on a trip to Leh, a town in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, in the far north of India. I bought two or three postcards, as had a friend who had come with me. He flipped through the pages of a few dog-eared notebooks for several minutes before announcing decisively, “This is you. Five postcards.” And he pointed at a hand-scrawled entry in a ledger dated Sept. 19, 2010. It was eight years ago to the day that I’d visited his store.

Leh (pronounced LAY), once the royal seat of a former Buddhist kingdom, is a place with a seemingly undying memory, ageless and eternal as the mountains that surround it. The Ladakh region, dotted with poplars and dominated by the Himalayas, has changed noticeably over the last decade, welcoming more tourists, restaurants and guesthouses. But it remains a wondrous destination for the adventurous traveler, full of captivating scenery, generous and friendly people, and accessible monasteries and holy places nearby. And it doesn’t hurt that it can all be done fairly inexpensively.

A couple of planning tips: You’ll probably want to arrive by plane. The flight to Leh’s Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport from New Delhi is about an hour, compared to a 25-hour drive. Flights, fortunately, can be cheap. I bought a one-way ticket directly through Air India for about 2,800 Indian rupees, or less than $40. Because of the unpredictable mountain climate at such high altitude (Leh is at around 11,500 feet), flights arrive and depart in the morning. Don’t plan to hop an evening flight.

After arriving in Delhi, I spent a couple of days sightseeing and getting used to the time change before heading up to Leh early one morning. My trip was part of a longer journey to India, to places that will be featured in future columns. You can expect a good deal of bureaucracy when it comes to travel in this country. Have copies of your itinerary printed out, and a copy of the credit card with which you made a given ticket purchase, or the card itself.

Despite the territorial jockeying between China, Pakistan and India over the disputed Kashmir region, you won’t need any kind of special visa or permit to visit Leh, or sites on the Srinagar-Leh Highway that runs west from town — your Indian visa will do. But if you want to go to certain areas like the Nubra Valley, north of Leh, you’ll need a special Inner Line Permit. The price depends on the length of the permit, but will run in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 rupees.

Friends I’d met during my previous trip to Leh — Tundup, a native of the area, and Sina, a Swiss national who visits frequently — picked me up at the airport and dropped me at my lodgings, the Hotel Spic-n-Span on Old Leh Road (double rooms cost around $45 to $60 per night online). There are hundreds of hotels and guesthouses in Leh, at every price point, but I’d recommend staying within walking distance of the Main Bazaar, the hub of shopping and dining activity in town.... Read More

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