Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening chaired a meeting with national security adviser Ajit Doval and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat to discuss the border impasse with China in Ladakh where soldiers of the two countries are locked in a standoff over the past two weeks, sources said.

“During the meeting, PM Modi took stock of the prevailing situation in eastern Ladakh. The Centre is taking every step to protect its interests in the region. Flag meetings are still on to mitigate the border disputes because the two sides have different perceptions of the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” a government official told The Telegraph.

The meeting took place shortly after defence minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with General Rawat and the tri-services chiefs to review the ground situation in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese militaries are beefing up border defences and redeploying new units.

The back-to-back meetings came amidst heightened tension along the LAC in Ladakh where the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is said to have transgressed 3-5km into Indian territory near the Pangong lake. They have increased troops deployment at these places, erected tents, brought in more boats into the lake and built bunkers.

Additional troops of the Indian Army have been flown in and are being deployed at three locations — two in the Galwan valley and another near Pangong lake. Sources said the Ladakh Scouts, a regiment of the Indian Army specialising in mountain warfare, has also moved to the area.

An Intelligence Bureau official said the Indian and Chinese camps were nearly 2km apart at the three locations while their soldiers were just a few hundred metres from each other.