After an all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over the India-China face-off in Ladakh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday assured the government of her party’s support in the “moment of crisis”. However, she said Modi should come forward and “tell people the truth” about the incident.
In a video message, Gandhi said she is confident that in challenging times like this, the country will come together and take on the enemy. She paid her condolences to the families of the 20 soldiers who died in violent face-off with Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“In the last 1.5 months, the Chinese army has been infiltrating in the Indian territory in Ladakh. Today, when the country is extremely angry about the incident then the Prime Minister should come forward and tell people the truth. How did China capture our territory and why our 20 soldiers have died as well as what is the current situation today?” she said.
Are there any army personnel or soldiers who are missing? How many of our army personnel and soldiers are seriously injured. And how much and where has China captured? What is the Indian government’s thoughts, policies and solution to deal with this situation?” she added.
Soon after Gandhi’s video message was released, Modi gave a brief address over the issue while addressing a meeting of chief ministers for assessing covid-19 pandemic situation in the country on Wednesday. In his first comments over the issue, Modi said India wants peace but is capable of giving a befitting response to provocations.
Congress has been seeking a detailed statement from the top leadership including the Prime Minister over the incident. Gandhi’s video message was released on Wednesday afternoon, around the same time it was announced that Modi would be holding an all party meeting on the China border issue on Friday evening.
