Indian, Chinese Army commanders meet, also use hotline to bring down tensions in Ladakh

New Delhi: Commanders of the armies of India and China on Wednesday met in eastern Ladakh and also exchanged messages over the hotline on ways to check further escalation in border tension on the eve of a crucial meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Moscow, government sources said.

The sources added that the situation in eastern Ladakh remained 'tense' and that around 30-40 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are holding up at a position close to an Indian post in the Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh.

External Affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are set to hold the keenly anticipated bilateral talks on Thursday against the backdrop of a massive spike in tension in eastern Ladakh triggered by fresh face-offs between the two armies along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Jaishankar and Wang are in Moscow to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.

Besides the bilateral talks, the two leaders are expected to come face-to-face during a luncheon meeting of foreign ministers of Russia-India-China (RIC) on Thursday.

The focus of the bilateral talks between Jaishankar and Wang are expected to be on finding a breakthrough in cooling down temperatures in eastern Ladakh, a day after the two countries accused each other of firing in the air at the latest flashpoint in the first instance of bullets being used along the LAC after a gap of 45 years.

Jaishankar held a meeting with his Russian counterpart and SCO host Sergey Lavrov after which the Indian leader said he had "excellent talks" and that they discussed bilateral strategic ties and exchanged views on the international situation.

With agency inputs