Sanjha Morcha

Need assurance that China will move back from current position, says Sonia at all-party meet on LAC

What next, what is the way forward? Was there intelligence failure’: Congress president bombards Centre with questions

Need assurance that China will move back from current position, says Sonia at all-party meet on LAC

Congress president Sonia Gandhi addresses on Indian Army face-off with Chinese troops at Galwan valley in Ladakh via video link. PTI photo

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 19

Congress president Sonia Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to assure the nation that status quo ante along the LAC will be restored and China will move back from the current positions.

“The question is, what next? What is the way forward?  The entire country would like an assurance that status quo ante would be restored and China will revert back to the original position on Line of Actual Control,” she said in her remarks at an all-party meeting the prime minister had called on Friday to discuss the volatile situation.

Gandhi also asked the government to explain the sequence of events leading up to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and asked the government of it thought there was a failure of intelligence.

The Congress chief said the meeting should have come earlier in the day and asked the prime minister a series of questions.

Gandhi asked: “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?“

Gandhi said there was lack of clarity on the ground situation and that valuable time was lost between May 5 and June 6, resulting in the deaths of Indian soldiers.

“Even at this late stage, we are still in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis. We in the Congress Party believe that valuable time was lost between May 5 and June 6, the date on which the Corps Commanders meeting took place. Even after the June 6 meeting, efforts should have been made to talk directly, at the political and diplomatic levels, to the leadership of China. We failed to use all avenues, and the result is the loss of 20 lives as well as dozens injured,” Gandhi said, urging the PM to share with all the facts and the sequence of events beginning April this year till date.

On the way forward Sonia Gandhi said: “The entire country would like an assurance that status quo ante would be restored and China will revert back to the original position on Line of Actual Control”.

She also sought a briefing on the preparedness of defence forces to meet any threat.

“In particular, I would like to ask—what is the current status of the Mountain Strike Corps, with two mountain infantry divisions, that was sanctioned in 2013? Should the Government not treat it with utmost priority?” she asked.