No Indian post under China’s control: PM Modi denies intrusion

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jun 19, 2020: Chairing an all-party meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated India’s resolve to protect every inch of its territory. The meeting was called by the PM to discuss border tensions with China after 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed by Chinese troops along the Line of Control in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on the night of June 15.

- At the all-party meeting, Modi said those who dared India have been taught a lesson. “Neither have they intruded into our border, nor has any post been taken over by them. Twenty of our jawans were martyred, but those who dared Bharat Mata were taught a lesson,” the PM said.

 

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In opening remarks at the all-party meeting, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi condoled the loss of soldiers’ lives and put forth seven questions to the government on the border tension.

“On which date did the Chinese troops intrude into our territory in Ladakh? When did the government find out about the Chinese transgressions into our territory? Was it on May 5th, as reported, or earlier? Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country? Did our external intelligence agencies not report any unusual activity along the LAC? Did the Military Intelligence not alert the government about the intrusion and the build-up of massive forces along the LAC, whether on the Chinese side or on the Indian side? In the government’s considered view, was there a failure of intelligence?” she asked.

Sonia Gandhi added that the “nation needs assurance that status quo ante is restored. What is the current status of Mountain Strike corps? Opposition parties should be briefed regularly.”

Calling for unity, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said: “China is not a democracy. They are a dictatorship. They can do what they feel. We, on the other hand, have to work together. India will win, China will lose. Speak with unity. Think with unity. Work with unity. We are solidly with the government.”

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JD(U) chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also calls for political unity. “There is nationwide anger against China. There should be no differences among us. We are together. Parties should not show any disunity that can be exploited by other nations. China’s stand on India is known. India wanted to give respect to China. But what did China do in 1962,” he said.

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Agency reports say TRS chief and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao said the PM’s clarity on Kashmir and call for self-reliance has angered China.

CPI’s D Raja said, "We need to resist US efforts to drag us into their alliance”, while and CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury stressed on the principles of Panchsheel.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the question of whether soldiers carried arms or not are decided by international agreements and “we need to respect such sensitive matters”

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha chief and Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang said during the meet that "we have full faith in the PM. In the past too, when it comes to national security, PM has taken landmark decisions".

NPP’s Conrad Sangma said, "Infrastructure work along the border should not stop. China-sponsored activities in Myanmar and Bangladesh is worrying. PM has been working on North East infrastructure and it must go on."

Leaders in attendance at the meeting are JP Nadda (BJP), Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Mayawati (BSP), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), MK Stalin (DMK), Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam (AIADMK), N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), D Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury (CPM), K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS), Sukhbir Badal (Akali Dal), Chirag Paswan (Lok Janshakti Party) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha).

A political controversy had erupted ahead of the meeting with the RJD and AIMIM crying foul over not being invited. The parties weren’t called for the meeting reportedly based on their negligible presence in Parliament.

- AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh too had lashed out against the Modi government and the BJP over the apparent snub, but party chief and Delhi chief minister brushed it aside. “We stand with the country and our security forces. Strict action should be taken against China,” he said.

Several opposition leaders have demanded clarity from the government on circumstances that led to 20 soldiers being killed in clashes with Chinese troops in violent escalation of a months-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control.

China has claimed it had not seized any Indian personnel in the Galwan Valley, the site of bloody clashes between the two sides in which soldiers on both sides were killed. The development comes amid claims that China had taken some Indian troops hostage and later released them.

- As outrage against the neighbour grows, with calls to boycott Chinese products, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “Regarding the serious situation in Galwan Valley, right & wrong is very clear & the responsibility entirely lies with Indian side. India & China are in talks to ease the situation.”

The Army has denied reports of Indian soldiers being in Chinese custody, saying no personnel are missing in action. Reports quotes army sources as also saying that 18 soldiers undergoing treatment at a hospital in Leh are no more critical and are stable, while 58 soldiers at other hospitals should be back on duty within a week.

The clashes reportedly involved intense hand-to-hand fighting but no gunfire, in line with longstanding practices aimed at avoiding a full military confrontation over the 3,500-kilometre border. According to Indian officials, soldiers were hit with clubs studded with nails and stones.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is using diplomatic channels with China to de-escalate a military standoff.

On the eve of the all-party meeting, too, a war of words had raged between the BJP and the Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s claim that soldiers were sent "unarmed to martyrdom". He had earlier attacked Modi, asking why he was "hiding".

Hitting back, the BJP had called Gandhi the "most irresponsible politician" India has seen. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said India under Modi will win over "three Cs -- Coronavirus, China and the Congress" as it is no longer the India of 1962 when the opposition party was in power. "You are the most irresponsible politician India has yet seen. Read, understand and then speak. Just don’t rant against your country. Don’t make such unfounded and misleading claims against your own country to launch your politics," he said.



courtesy:Yahoo