Rajnath Singh inspects communication equipment at 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar

Earlier in the day, the Defence Minister paid homage to the Indian Army soldiers who lost their lives in the Galwan Valley clash two years ago in 2020.

Taking to Twitter, Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, said, "Remembering the heroes of Galwan who fought valiantly for the honour of the country and laid down their lives on June 15-16, 2020. Their courage, bravery and supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten. I pay homage to those bravehearts."

For the first time in nearly 45 years, a violent skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops broke out in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020, resulting in losses on both sides and marking a new sour turn in China-India relations. The violent clashes, which mostly took place in and around Ladakh's Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake, claimed lives on both sides and strained the bilateral relationship.

Even though two years have passed since the deadliest clash in 45 years between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, the two countries are still engaged in talks for the disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). But an early resolution to the standoff is nowhere in sight.

So far, the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) have held 14 rounds of talks since the Galwan clashes and one before June 15, 2020, to resolve the standoff but no concrete solution has been arrived at yet.

He will attend the 200th anniversary of Maharaja Gulab Singh's 'Rajyabhishek Ceremony' in Jammu on Friday.

Gulab Singh was the first Maharaja of Topa Rajput princely state and had founded the Dogra dynasty in Jammu and Kashmir.

Topa Rajput was the second-largest princely state under Britishers, which was created by them to defeat the Sikh empire during the First Anglo-Sikh War.

Earlier, on Monday, Singh called for greater jointness of civil administration and Armed Forces to further strengthen national security and deal with future challenges that may emanate from the ever-evolving global situation.

He was addressing the participants of the 28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand on Monday.

The Minister pointed out that the concept of national security has broadened, as many non-military dimensions have been added to the more general aspect of protection from military attacks. (ANI)