Indian National Congress has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government’s handling of China’s incursion in eastern Ladakh. On Monday, at least twenty Indian army personnel were reportedly killed in the deadliest clash in the last 45 years between India and China in Galwan Valley.
Congress tweeted a poster, captioning: “The nation will remember the last 43 days. 43 days of silence, denial & ignorance.” Using the Twitter trend, #PMDaroMatJawabDo, the tweeted poster, where Mr. Modi’s lips are zipped, reads: “43 days since China occupied our land. 43 days since our PM has been silent.”
After the violent face-off in eastern Ladakh, China has claimed that “sovereignty of the Galwan Valley region has always belonged” to her. On Wednesday, the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi lashed out at Mr. Modi saying, “Enough is enough, the country needs to know what has happened. Why is the PM silent? Why is he hiding? Enough is enough. We need to know what has happened. How dare China kill our soldiers? How dare they take our land?”
In a separate video message, Mr. Gandhi also said, “Come forward Pradhan Mantri ji, the entire nation, all of us stand with you. The entire nation is with you. Come forward and tell the truth to the nation. Don’t get scared.”
In a statement, the spokesman of China’s Western Theater, Zhang Shuili, accused the Indian army of “[violating] its commitment and crossed the actual control line again [on the evening of 15 June]. Illegal activities, deliberately launched provocative attacks, triggered fierce physical conflict between the two sides, resulting in casualties.”
The statement sent out by India’s Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Tuesday claimed: “India and China have been discussing through military and diplomatic channels the de-escalation of the situation in the border area in Eastern Ladakh.”
Mr. Modi has called for an all-party meeting on 19 June in order to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas. The official handle of the Office of Prime Minister 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.”
