Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who arrived in Leh Friday morning to review the situation at the border, said that not an inch of ‘our land can be taken by any power’. His visit to the border area comes a month after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with China at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

Referring to the current talks and efforts by the two Asian giants to disengage in eastern Ladakh, the Defence Minister said in Lukung, “Whatever talks have happened so far, the matter should get resolved… but to what extent it would be resolved, I cannot guarantee. However, I want to assure you that not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world.”

Singh was interacting with Indian Army and ITBP personnel at Lukung, accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

The clash in Galwan resulted in escalation of tension between the two nations with almost eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the border. Talking about the incident, the minister said, “Recently what happened between troops of India and China at PP14, how some of our personnel sacrificed their lives protecting our border. I am happy to meet you all but also saddened because of their loss. I pay my tributes to them.”