No recent contact between Modi and Trump, Indian officials claim

There has been no recent conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump regarding the border stand-off with China, Indian officials familiar with the developments said.

The last time the two leaders spoke was on April 4, when the subject of the conversation was hydroxychloroquine, an official said, hours after US President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that he had spoken with Modi in recent days and said the Indian PM "is not in a good mood on what is going on in China".

They reiterated that India is directly in contact with China to address the border stand-off.

Both India and China are involved in a stand-off in the Ladakh region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). China was first to adopt an aggressive posturing by sending 6,000 soldiers of its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to the region. The troops have been moved to four locations in eastern Ladakh - three in the Galwan Valley and one near Pangong Lake. Sources said that China wants to stop the infrastructure works being done by India in the remote region.

The decision to mobilise the troops was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and foreign minister S Jaishankar was part of that meeting.

This is the same team that drafted India’s response during the 73-day Doklam stand-off in 2017.

(Source: Hindustan Times/NDTV)