On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised everyone when he landed up at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee airport at Leh to be briefed about operational preparedness of the Indian military against the aggressive Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane, Modi's first stop was the XIV Corps headquarters at Nimu outside Leh to ; he was briefed by Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh in the presence of Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Y K Joshi.
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The decision of PM Modi to go to Leh was kept under wraps till he landed at the airport with the entire coordination done by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Rawat and Naravane.
NSA Doval, who came out of self-imposed isolation after two weeks, chose to remain in Delhi.
Experts said the presence of PM Modi in the Ladakh region has not only sent a signal to China that India means business and will not surrender even an inch of its territory but also reassured the local population.
Indian Army and Chinese PLA are facing off at four points on the LAC in East Ladakh with the latter consolidating on ground while mouthing peace overtures.
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It is understood that Prime Minister Modi gave a message to the Ladakh commanders that they should not initiate any escalation from their side but should definitely retaliate to any aggression.
The same message was also given out during the 2017 Doklam crisis.
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