Foreign Minister S Jaishankar/FILE
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the troops of the Indian Army were carrying arms during the face-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan Valley on Monday night. Jaishankar was responding to a tweet by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioning as to why were the Indian soldiers unarmed. Jaishankar said that it is a long-standing practice, as per 1996 and 2005 agreements, to not use firearms during faceoffs.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in the faceoff with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh. However, China concealed the number of casualties on their side.
"Let us get the facts straight. All troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post. Those at Galwan on June 15 did so. Long-standing practice (as per 1996 and 2005 agreements) not to use firearms during faceoffs," Jaishankar said.
This was in response to Gandhi's tweet that read: "How dare China kill our unarmed soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?"
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has confirmed that no Indian soldiers went missing during the faceoff. With reference to the article "In China-India clash, two nationalist leaders with little room to give" published by the New York Times, the Indian Army said: "No personnel of the Indian Army is missing in action due to the Indo-China faceoff in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh."
