India-China Border Violence LIVE: Not Seized Any Indian Personnel in Galwan Valley, Claims China.
India-China Border Violence LIVE Updates: China today claimed it had not seized any Indian personnel in the Galwan Valley, the site of bloody clashes between the two sides in which soldiers on both sides were killed. The development comes amid claims that China had taken some Indian troops hostage and later released them.
Here’s a look at the top developments on the India-China tensions:
– As the outrage against the neighbour grows, with calls to boycott Chinese products, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “Regarding the serious situation in Galwan Valley, right & wrong is very clear & the responsibility entirely lies with Indian side. India & China are in talks to ease the situation.”
– Close to 20 party presidents will at 5pm today attend an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the escalation of tensions with China following the death of 20 Indian Army personnel in clashes at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
– Among those in attendance at PM’s all-party meeting will be Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had skipped Modi’s virtual meeting with chief ministers on the Covid-19 pandemic.
– The leaders who are expected to attend the meeting are JP Nadda (BJP), Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), MK Stalin (DMK), Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam (AIADMK), N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), D Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury (CPM), K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS), Sukhbir Badal (Akali Dal), Chirag Paswan (Lok Janshakti Party) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha).
– On the eve of the all-party meeting, a war of words raged between the BJP and the Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s claim that soldiers were sent “unarmed to martyrdom”. He had earlier attacked Modi, asking why he was “hiding”.
– Hitting back, the BJP called Gandhi the “most irresponsible politician” India has seen. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said India under Modi will win over “three Cs — Coronavirus, China and the Congress” as it is no longer the India of 1962 when the opposition party was in power. “You are the most irresponsible politician India has yet seen. Read, understand and then speak. Just don’t rant against your country. Don’t make such unfounded and misleading claims against your own country to launch your politics,” he said.
– Several opposition leaders have demanded clarity from the government on circumstances that led to 20 soldiers being killed in clashes with Chinese troops in violent escalation of a months-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control.
– The clashes reportedly involved intense hand-to-hand fighting but no gunfire, in line with longstanding practices aimed at avoiding a full military confrontation over the 3,500-kilometre border. According to Indian officials, soldiers were hit with clubs studded with nails and stones.
– The Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is using diplomatic channels with China to de-escalate a military standoff.
– The Army has denied reports of Indian soldiers being in Chinese custody, saying no personnel are missing in action. Reports quotes army sources as also saying that 18 soldiers undergoing treatment at a hospital in Leh are no more critical and are stable, while 58 soldiers at other hospitals should be back on duty within a week.
