China issue: Share 'all the facts', Sonia Gandhi urges PM Modi during all-party meeting
China-India standoff: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to share 'all the facts' of the sequence of events in Ladakh. She was present at the all-party virtual meeting called by the PM to apprise all the parties of the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In her statement during the meet, Sonia Gandhi opined that the all-party meeting "...should have come sooner and immediately after the government had been reportedly informed about the Chinese intrusion on May 5th, 2020..."
20 political parties including those in the Opposition camp attended the all-party virtual meeting.
Sonia Gandhi, at the outset of her statement, paid homage to Indian soldiers who attained martyrdon during the scuffle with Chinese soldiers at the LAC. She wished a speedy recovery to injured jawans.
Gandhi opined that the government should have called the all-party meet much earlier. Saying that everyone was still in dark about exact situation at the LAC, Sonia Gandhi raised some specific questions.
"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?" asked Gandhi.
She suggested that 20 lives were lost as the government "failed to use all avenues" of resolving the matter.
"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." she said.
"I would urge the Prime Minister to kindly share with us all the facts and the sequence of events beginning April this year till date," she added.
