On his arrival at Leh, the defence minister was greeted by the Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General YK Joshi and Lt General Harinder Singh, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 14 Corps. The Defence Minister is being accompanied by the Army Chief General MM Naravane and the Chief Of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat.
The Defence Minister did not waste any time and took off for the forward areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector, where he is likely to meet with the field commanders and interact with the troops deployed along the LAC in the Ladakh sector.
Rajnath got a real flavour of the firepower of the Indian Army's mechanized coloums as he witnessed a field exercise by the T-90 tanks and BMP infantry combat vehicles at Stakna region in Leh.
The Defence Minister also witnessed a slew of other activities like para dropping and was witnessed holding a scoping weapon at Stakna, Leh.
Taking to Twitter ahead of his 2-day visit to Kashmir and Leh, Singh said, "Leaving for Leh on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. I shall be visiting the forward areas to review the situation at the borders and also interact with the Armed Forces personnel deployed in the region. Looking forward to it."
Rajnath's visit comes in the backdrop of India and China making continued efforts to disengage their troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control as part of the de-escalation process amid the stand-off between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.
On July 15, a 15-hour-long Corps Commander-level talks, which was the fourth to be held between the two neighbouring countries aimed at de-escalation, took place. The first round of disengagement in all friction areas was done as armies moved back by almost 1-1.5 km in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra areas.
WATCH | Rajnath Singh Leaves For Two-day trip to Ladakh and Kashmir