SOURCE: HT
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean about the situation in eastern Ladakh, where 20 soldiers of the Indian Army were killed in a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley late on Monday.
“The PM should tell the nation how the Chinese occupied Indian territory, why 20 brave soldiers were martyred,” she said in Hindi during a live address. The Congress president also sought to know how many soldiers are injured or still missing. She said her party stands behind the government and sent her tributes to the families of soldiers who died for their country.
“The sacrifice of our 20 jawans has shaken the conscience of the nation. I pay my tribute to all those brave soldiers from the core of my heart and pray to the almighty to give their families the strength to face this pain,” said Gandhi.
The Congress chief’s address came almost simultaneously as the Prime Minister’s first reaction to the Indian Army’s face-off with Chinese troops late on Monday.
The PM said the sacrifice of the soldiers who were killed in the line of duty in Galwan Valley will not go in vain.
“I would like to assure the nation that the sacrifice of our soldiers will not be in vain. India wants peace but it is capable of giving a befitting reply if instigated,” said the PM.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded to know “why is the PM silent?” and raised questions on the Chinese aggression.
Shortly after came defence minister Rajnath Singh’s tweet mourning the loss of 20 Indian soldiers in the scrap with the Chinese troops.
“The loss of soldiers in Galwan is deeply disturbing and painful. Our soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in the line of duty and sacrificed their lives in the highest traditions of the Indian Army.
“The Nation will never forget their bravery and sacrifice. My heart goes out to the families of the fallen soldiers. The nation stand shoulder to shoulder with them in this difficult hour. We are proud of the bravery and courage of India’s bravehearts,” the minister tweeted.
Since May, there have been tensions between the Indian and Chinese sides following clashes between the troops of the two countries in the Sikkim and Ladakh sectors of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The deployment of reinforcements by both sides led up to the face-off in Galwan Valley on Monday night that left 20 Indian soldiers, including a colonel, dead. On the Chinese side, news agency ANI reported, 43 soldiers have been killed or seriously injured, though the Indian army’s statement did not refer to this.
The army statement issued on Tuesday evening said the Indian and Chinese troops at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed “ have disengaged”.
The External affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Monday evening’s violent face-off took place after the Chinese side “departed from the consensus to respect the LAC” and attempted to “unilaterally change the status quo”.
These are the first Indian casualties in a border skirmish with PLA since October 1975 when Chinese troops ambushed an Indian patrol in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tulung La sector and shot four soldiers dead. HT has learnt rival soldiers exchanged blows, threw stones at each other and Chinese troops even attacked Indian soldiers with rods and nail-studded clubs during the brawl that went on for over six hours.
The deadly clash came on a day army delegations from India and China held talks at two locations along the LAC – brigadier-ranked officers met in the Galwan Valley and Colonel-ranked officers in Hot Springs – as part of continuing efforts to resolve the standoff.
https://defencenewsofindia.com/pm-should-tell-how-chinese-occupied-indian-territory-sonia-gandhi-on-ladakh-face-off/
