Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asserted that India remains committed to resolving the current issues in its border areas through peaceful dialogue and consultations.
Shri Rajnath Singh said, India believes that mutual respect and mutual sensitivity are the basis for peaceful relations with neighbours.
Making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the LAC situation, the Defence Minister said, India wants to resolve the current situation through dialogue. He said, India has been continuously maintaining diplomatic and military engagement with the Chinese side. He informed the House that India is taking a stand on three key principles.
He mentioned that both sides should strictly respect the Line of Actual Control and asserted that any attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo will not be acceptable. Shri Rajnath Singh also said, that all agreements and understandings between India and China should be fully abided by in their entirety.
The Defence Minister urged the House to pass a resolution in support of the Armed forces, who he said, have been defending our motherland at great heights and most inclement weather conditions. He said, China continues to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq. kms in Ladakh.
The Defence Minister said, under the so-called Sino-Pakistan ‘Boundary Agreement’ of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China. He said, India had situations of prolonged stand-offs in border areas with China in the past as well, which he said, were resolved peacefully.
He said, even though the situation this year is very different both in terms of the scale of troops involved and the number of friction points, India remains committed to peaceful resolution. He said, violent conduct of Chinese troops along the LAC is a violation of all past agreements.
The Defence Minister said though China has mobilised a huge number of Army battalions and armaments along the LAC, the Indian Army is ready to deal with any situation along border.
Congress MPs staged a walkout from Lok Sabha demanding discussion on India-China border issue. (With inputs from AIR)
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