India-China Tensions All-Party Meet: Prime Minister Modi Discusses China Situation With Party Leaders
Follow the prime minister’s all-party meeting on the China situation here.
No One Intruded In Our Territory: PM Modi
Modi Says India Wants Peace, But Sovereignty Comes First
No One Can Eye Even An Inch Of India's Land: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that neither have the Chinese troops entered the area under India's control nor has any army post been taken over by them.
Modi said that over the past few years the government has stepped up infrastructure development to protect India's borders. He said the Indian Army is now capable of carrying out operations in multiple sectors at once.
Rajnath Singh Says There Was No Intelligence Failure
Akali Dal Says Not The Right Time For Questions
Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal said that this is not the right time to question the handling of the situation by the government.
NPP's Conrad Sangam Raises Concerns On China's Activities In Myanmar, Bangaldesh
Meghalaya’s National People’s Party leader Conrad Sangma said that infrastructure work along the border in north east areas should not stop.
Uddhav Thackeray Says 'We Are All One'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that India wants peace but that should not be misconstrued as a sign of weakness.
CPI (M) Stresses On Panchsheel Principles
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury stressed on the principles of Panchsheel which was a non-interference peace treaty signed between China and India in 1954. D Raja, on the other hand, said that U.S. interference in the matter should be resisted.
Nitish Kumar Says Shed All Differences
Bihar Chief Minister said that there should be no differences in the countries' various political parties.
Mamata Banerjee Says TMC Stands In Solidarity With The Government
West Bengal chief minister said that China shouldn't be allowed to venture in to India’s telecom, railway and aviation sectors while pledging support for the government in this matter.
'We are United': DMK's MK Stalin
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's MK Stalin said that all parties must be united against China's intrusion.
NCP's Sharad Pawar On Issue Of Soldiers Carrying Arms
Former Defence Minister and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said that international agreements regarding soldiers not carrying arms need to be respected.
Congress Ready For Any Sacrifice To Make India's Defence Forces Battle Ready: Sonia Gandhi
The Indian National Congress and the entire opposition are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure India's defence forces are battle ready, Sonia Gandhi said in opening remarks in the all-party meeting.
The entire nation expects that the government will take all opposition parties and the country into confidence and brief us regularly so that we may present to the world a picture of unity and solidarity.Sonia Gandhi, President, Congress
All-Party Meeting Underway
Leaders of major political parties put across their views on the the situation along the India-China border, in the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The virtual meeting began with participants paying tributes to the 20 Indian soldiers killed in the violent face-off with Chinese troops in East Ladakh earlier this week, Press Trust of India reported.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke on the stand-off at the meeting, according to early visuals.
Party leaders who attended:
- Sonia Gandhi (Congress)
- Sharad Pawar (Nationalist Congress Party)
- K Chandrashekhar Rao (Telangana Rashtra Samithi)
- Nitish Kumar Janata Dal (United)
- MK Stalin (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)
- YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress)
- Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena)
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been asking the government to be transparent about the situation on the border and slammed its handling of the issue.
(Source: PTI)
Silence Of The Neighbours
Amid a serious escalation of tensions with China following the first fatalities along their contested border in more than four decades, a surging epidemic and an economy heading for recession, the silence of India’s traditional regional allies and partners like Bangladesh and Nepal has been deafening.
Modi’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, which helped settle border disputes with Bangladesh and smoothed ties with Sri Lanka and Bhutan in his first term, has frayed in his second term.
His government’s focus on driving a hard-line Hindu nationalist agenda has alienated some traditional standbys and has made long-time trade and security partners uncomfortable.
The seeds of the current border crisis and the unraveling of some regional partnerships were likely sown last November.
Trade, Investments, Startups And More
As border tensions between India and China flared up with the deadliest clash in more than four decades, leaving at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, there have been calls for boycotting goods imported from the neighbouring nation. That, however, won’t be easy because the two economies are intertwined.
China is Asia’s largest economy and the world’s second-biggest with a GDP of about $13.6 trillion. India is No. 3 in Asia at $2.7 trillion. From supplying industrial components and raw materials to investments in India’s startups and technology firms, China is India’s biggest trading partner after the U.S.
BloombergQuint takes a look at the bilateral economic ties here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today will chair an all-party meet to discuss the ongoing geopolitical tensions with China.
At least 20 political parties are likely to be attending the all-party meet that is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., ANI has reported. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President JP Nadda are also expected to present in the virtual meeting.
ANI said that only recognised national parties with over five members in the Lok Sabha, leading parties from northeast India and union cabinet ministers had been invited. Parties with limited regional presence like the Aam Aadmi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have been excluded.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh. The face-off, which happened earlier this week, saw at least 20 Indian soldiers killed.
The two countries have now agreed to not escalate the conflict any further and have started disengaging from the area.
Earlier today, China released 10 Indian soldiers that were captured during the violent clashes, Bloomberg reported citing senior Indian officials. The Indian government had on Thursday said that no soldiers were missing in action. Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry too had denied holding any Indian personnel captive.
ANI also reported that the Indian Air Force Chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria was on a visit to Leh and Srinagar airbases amid the ongoing dispute.
Follow updates from the all-party meeting here.