Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh should inform the nation about the outcome of ‘repeated talks’ with China over the border row in Ladakh, the Congress said on Saturday.
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Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it was the rajdharma of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to take the nation into confidence on such an important issue.
“What is the conversation about; what is happening? Will Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh take the country into confidence?” Mr. Surjewala asked in a video posted on Twitter.
The Congress’s questions came a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Wei Fenghe, met for over two hours in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers meeting, on ‘de-escalating’ border tensions in eastern Ladakh.
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“The important part is what is the outcome of the repeated conversations with the Chinese counterparts by our government.... How will we ensure that Chinese transgressions are defeated,” Mr. Surjewala added.
Listing the various levels at which talks have been held with the Chinese — from the foreign ministers’ level and corps commanders level to the defence ministers’ discussions — Mr. Surjewala asked the government what the outcome of these talks was.
Dizzy heights: A fighter jet of the Indian Air Force flying Leh on Saturday.
The Congress leader also referred to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s remarks of the situation being “unprecedented” at the India-China border and that “We’ve never had this sort of a situation since 1962”.
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Asking how the government plans to repulse the Chinese, Mr. Surjewala said, “We hope Prime Minister Modi and the Defence Minister will come forward and take the nation into confidence. That is the true rajdharma . We will await an answer.”
At the party’s online briefing, Congress leader Rajeev Shukla also asked for a clear picture of the situation on the ground as “conflicting statements coming from the government is a matter of worry for us”.
"We hope that the issue can be resolved through talks,” he said.
