India-China: Prime Minister Narendra Modi convenes multi-stakeholder meeting on border situation
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a multi-stakeholder meeting on Friday to discuss the situation on the Indo-Chinese border after clashes in Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Presidents of various political parties will participate in the meeting at 5 p.m. Friday via video, the office of the prime minister said.
Army sources told GalacticGaming that up to 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured in the fighting in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. There have been “victims on both sides”.
On Tuesday morning, after confirming the deaths of three soldiers, including a colonel, the army added that 17 other seriously injured soldiers were “exposed to negative temperatures” and died from their injuries.
The military said Indian and Chinese troops “had disengaged” from the region. China also said on Wednesday that it wants to avoid further clashes. “Of course we do not want to see more clashes,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference, while urging India to avoid “provocative gestures” that could complicate the border situation.
To discuss the situation in the border areas between India and China, the Prime Minister @Narendra Modi called for a multi-stakeholder meeting at 5 p.m. on June 19. The presidents of various political parties would participate in this virtual meeting.
– PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 17, 2020
Monday’s clash, a serious escalation after weeks of tension along the border with China, erupted when a small Indian patrol moved to remove a Chinese tent in the Galwan River valley at 15,000 feet. China had agreed to remove the tent after talks between officers from both camps classified as lieutenant-general on June 6.
The incident did not involve any shootings but “violent melee scuffles”. The soldiers punched and threw stones at each other and Chinese troops allegedly used studded rods and sticks during the fight, which lasted for hours until midnight Monday, reports said.
Congressman Rahul Gandhi launched a brutal attack on PM Modi in a tweet this morning, wondering why he hadn’t talked about the huge incident so far. “Why is the Prime Minister silent? Why is he hiding? Enough is enough. We need to know what happened. How dare China kill our soldiers? How dare they take our land? ” Mr. Gandhi had tweeted. He also released a video paying tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in the line of duty and asked Prime Minister Modi to “come out” and “tell the truth”.
While Congress has been the strongest in its attacks, other parties like Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and Janata Dal Secular have also targeted the government.
“When will China get a firm response? 20 soldiers have been killed without a shot. What have we done,” Shiv Sena chief Sanjay Raut tweeted.
Trinamool congressman Mahua Moitra wondered if it would be anti-national to seek answers from the government. “Amazing how the BJP won 2019 with tom-tomming” surgical strikes “of which we have never seen real evidence and now that 20 real faces of our dead soldiers are staring at us, the PM is silent,” tweeted Ms. Moitra.
India blamed the clashes on “an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo”, refuting China’s claims that Indian soldiers had crossed the border.
