Indian defence minister hoping for resolution to border row with China

NEW DELHI: India’s defence minister said on Friday he hoped talks could bring some sort of resolution to a border standoff with China that led to a deadly clash last month, though India would not cede an inch of territory.

“Given the progress of the negotiations so far, the matter should be resolved. But to what extent it would be resolved, I cannot guarantee,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told troops in Ladakh’s Luking area on his first visit to the region since the June clash.

“But I want to assure that no power in the world can capture even an inch of India’s soil,” said Singh, who attended a battle drill involving special forces and air force helicopters, accompanied by the army chief, General Manoj Mukund Naravane.

On Thursday, the army said negotiations with the Chinese side were advancing, but a disengagement process was “intricate” and required verification on the ground.

Top commanders have been holding lengthy talks near a stretch of disputed Himalayan border in the Ladakh region, where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in confrontation since early May.

Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours spiked after soldiers fought with nail-studded clubs and rocks in the desolate Galwan valley on June 15.