Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dussehra
with Army soldiers at a forward base in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang on Tuesday, said
sources in the security establishment.
The Defence Minister is also set to perform “Shastra
Puja” (worship of weapons) in Tawang, they said.
Singh’s decision to celebrate Dussehra with the
soldiers at the strategically-important location that is close to the Line of
Actual Control (LAC) comes at a time when Bharat and China have been engaged in
a bitter standoff in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh for more than
three years.
Besides, the Defence Minister will carry out a
comprehensive review of the ground situation along the LAC in the Arunachal
Pradesh sector, said the sources.
He is also expected to visit a few forward locations
in the region.
Singh has been performing “Shastra Puja” on Dussehra
for the last several years, including during his tenure as the Union Home Minister
in the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an
over-three-year-long confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh
even as the two sides have completed disengagement from several areas following
extensive diplomatic and military talks.
Bharat has been maintaining that its ties with China
cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
The Army has significantly bolstered deployment of
troops and weaponry along the nearly 3,500-km-long LAC, including in the Sikkim
and Arunachal Pradesh sectors, following the eastern Ladakh standoff.
PTI
