New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for an all-party meeting at 5 PM on Friday to discuss the situation in India-China border areas and specifically the escalation in tensions between the two countries after the violent clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along LAC in which 20 Indian troops have been killed.
“In order to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister @narendramodi has called for an all-party meeting at 5 PM on 19th June. Presidents of various political parties would take part in this virtual meeting,” the PMO tweeted.
In order to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister @narendramodi has called for an all-party meeting at 5 PM on 19th June. Presidents of various political parties would take part in this virtual meeting.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 17, 2020
This is the first official reaction from the Prime Minister’s side amid the mounting pressure by opposition parties, asking the Government for a detailed explanation of the developments taking place on India-China border along LAC.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala held a press conference earlier today and tried to corner the Government on the status of troops’ lives lost in Galwan Valley on the intervening night of June 15-16.
After an initial statement earlier yesterday stating that three Indian troops including a Colonel were killed in the face-off with China’s PLA, the Army released another statement last night saying that total 20 lives have been lost on the Indian side. It also added that there have been casualties on both sides and the troops on each side have disengaged after the Monday night clashes.
“Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020. 17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20. Indian Army is firmly committed to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation,” read the official statement by the Army.
The violent faceoff took place even as the de-escalation process was underway after a series of diplomatic and military level talks between the two countries.
As the de-escalation process took a blow by the incident, senior military officials from both sides met at the venue yesterday to defuse the situation and Major General level talks were underway.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in its statement released last evening, said that the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, leading to a violent face-off.
“While it was our expectation that this would unfold smoothly, the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.
“On the late-evening and night of 15th June, 2020 a violent face-off happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there,” he added.
Srivastava said that both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided “had the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.”
“Given its responsible approach to border management, India is very clear that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC. We expect the same of the Chinese side,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also reviewed the current operational situation in Eastern Ladakh yesterday, consequent to Monday night’s violent faceoff on the LAC, along with CDS General Bipin Rawat and the chiefs of three services. External Affairs Minister S Jaisahnkar was also present during the meeting.
This is the first loss of lives in a clash with the PLA on the disputed India China border since 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh.
A scuffle between the soldiers of both sides at Pangong Tso (eastern Ladakh) and Naku la (in Sikkim) came in early last month and since then, tensions between the troops on the two sides have escalated. After that, both sides mobilised thousands of troops and heavy military equipment along the LAC.
