Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that India and China had been maintaining “peace and tranquillity” on the border by respecting bilateral pacts, and added that the government was “fully alive” to the country’s security needs.
Mr. Singh, however, acknowledged that at times some “unpleasant incidents” had taken place because of “differences in perception with regard to the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”.
The Minister was responding to a question raised by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in the House, during Zero Hour on reports that Chinese troops had come six kilometres inside India on July 6, and planted their flags in the Demchok area of the Ladakh region.
‘Grave concern’
The Congress leader said the incident was of “grave concern” since it came after the 72-day stand-off on the Doklam plateau at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. “China has often been transgressing into India and follows it up with aggressive diplomacy,” Mr. Chowdhury said.
The Defence Minister then assured the House that there was complete restraint by the armed forces of India and China at Doklam, especially after the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan.
“India and China are respecting bilateral pacts to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border,” Mr. Singh said and added that both sides were exercising restraint.
Asserting that there was nothing new for troops to transgress the LAC as it was not properly delineated, Mr. Singh listed out the various mechanisms available to the two sides to maintain communication such as meetings of commanders, flag meetings, a hotline and dialogue between Special Representatives at the level of the National Security Advisers.
“I want to assure the entire nation, not just about our border with China, but across the country...we are fully alive to the security needs of our country,” Mr. Singh told the House.
Published - July 17, 2019 10:16 pm IST
