Addressing the Rajya Sabha today, on the Indo-China border issue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a few statetments on the military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, at the same time refraining from giving oout more information stating that these are sensitive operational issues which he cannot disclose at the present. The discussion in Rajya Sabha comes two days after articulating the governemnt’s position in the Lok Sabha, wherein the opposition MPs had slammed the government for not allowing them to raise questions following Singh’s statement.
The Minister started his adress by saying that “On 15 June, Col Santosh Babu, along with his 19 brave soldiers, made the supreme sacrifice in Galwan Valley towards the cause of defending the territorial integrity of India. Our PM himself went to Ladakh to boost morale of forces.”
The Defence Minister further says, “The situation this year is very different both in terms of the scale of troops involved and number of friction points. We do remain committed to peaceful resolution of the current situation. At the same time, we remain prepared to deal with all contingencies.”
“In the present situation, there are sensitive operational issues which I cannot detail. I hope the House will understand the sensitivity of the matter,” Singh adds.
Rajnath Singh says that it was the Chinese Army that provoked the Indian Army. “Conduct of our armed forces throughout these incidents shows that while they maintained ‘Sayyam’ in face of provocative actions, they also equally displayed ‘Shaurya’ when required to protect the territorial integrity of India.” He also said that Chinese actions reflect a disregard of our various bilateral agreements.
“China continues to be in illegal occupation of approx 38,000 sq. kms in the Union Territory of Ladakh. In addition, under the so-called Sino-Pakistan ‘Boundary Agreement’ of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km. of Indian territory in PoK to China. China also claims approximately 90,000 sq. kms. of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh.”