Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit forward areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on July 17th and 18th. Army Chief General M M Naravane will accompany him. During this visit, they will review the security situation in Eastern Ladakh. Defence officials including the Northern Army Commander will also accompany Singh. This will be Defence Minister’s first visit to Ladakh since the faceoff with China commenced. Singh is likely to visit Atal Tunnel, previously known as Rohtang Tunnel, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is a highway tunnel being built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway. At 8.8 km length, the tunnel will be one of the longest road tunnels in the country and is expected to reduce the distance between Manali and Keylong by about 46 kilometres. The strategically important Manali-Leh highway is used by the Army to transport essential material to the soldiers deployed in the border areas of Ladakh.
