In an all-party meeting which was called on the backdrop of the recent India-China clash, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, assured that no Indian territory has been occupied by anyone and no Indian posts have been captured. While addressing the meeting, he said that 20 bravehearts who lost their lives in the recent clash, gave a befitting reply to those who cast a nefarious design on our motherland. He also assured leaders from all parties that Indian security forces are leaving no stones unturned to protect the country.
The meeting began at 5 pm on Friday by observing twominute silence for the martyrs. The entire situation was first explained by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also presented an overview of agreements between India and China on border management and also shared details of the recent developments. Everyone, except the Congress and the Left, backed the government.
PM Modi said, “The entire country is hurt and angry at the step taken by China at LAC. Our forces are leaving no stone unturned to protect the country. Be it deployment, action, counter action, our forces in air, land and sea, they are doing what they have to do. Today, we have such capability that nobody can even dare to look towards an inch of our land. The forces, in various sectors are capable of moving at one go. While on one hand, the army has been given freedom to take necessary steps, India has also conveyed its position clearly to China through diplomatic means.”
The Prime Minister told everyone in the meeting that all steps, necessary for national security and construction of necessary infrastructure will continue to be taken at a fast pace. “Our patrolling capacity has increased due to newly built infrastructure, especially along LAC (Line of Actual Control). Due to this we get to know about what is happening at the LAC. The movement of those which used to take place without any disruption earlier is now checked by our Jawan which at times leads to build up of tension. Provision has also been made for fighter planes, advanced helicopters, missile defence systems and other such needs of our forces,” he added.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, however, was critical of the government. She said, “The government should have called this meeting much earlier and everyone is still in dark about the exact situation at the LAC. 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 went on to say that we failed to use all avenues, and the result is the loss of 20 lives as well as dozens injured.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata extended her full support to the government. She said that the all-party meeting was a good message for the nation and it showed that we are united behind our Jawans. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, in the meeting, stressed that issues like whether soldiers carried arms or not are decided by international agreements and such sensitive matters should be respected. Other parties including Shiv Sena, Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Janata DalUnited, Bahujan Samaj Party, among others extended their full support to the Centre and stood in solidarity with the armed forces.