Several times in the past, Defence Minister AK Antony has talked enthusiastically about visiting troops in Tawang and taking a first-hand look at the Sino-Indian border. Therefore, the secrecy surrounding his first ever trip to the region was uncharacteristic of the minister. Forget taking along a media delegation, no official briefing or statement on his impending visit was issued by the Defence Ministry. In fact, things were so hushed up that even talks about the “cancellation” of his visit started doing the rounds in South Block earlier in the week. The low-key affair was attributed to the sensitiveness of the Chinese, but to his credit Antony made it clear to the babus that he would not change his plans just because the Olympic torch will be arriving in Delhi.