Congress questions PM’s silence, says govt must tell nation about response to face-off

NEW DELHI: Accusing the Prime Minister and the defence minister of silence on Chinese aggression for over a month, Congress on Tuesday questioned the claim of the government that casualties in Galwan Valley resulted during the de-escalation process. Congress said it was time for Modi government to tell the nation how much of Indian territory had been illegally occupied by China since May when the PLA troops breached the LAC.
The Congress Working Committee will meet on June 23, and sources said the China issue and border problems may dominate the discussion. Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said, “Will the PM and Raksha Mantri take the nation into confidence as to how could our officer and soldiers be killed as the Chinese were reportedly withdrawing from our territory in the Galwan Valley?”
Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Words cannot describe the pain I feel for the officers and men who sacrificed their lives for our country. My condolences to all their loved ones. We stand with you in this difficult time.” Congress spokesman and MP Manish Tewari said, “The situation has been serious on the border since the last week of April and last night’s confrontation should really be the trigger for the PM to brief the former PM of India, defence minister to brief the former defence minister and for the NSA to brief his predecessor, about what is going on at the border.”
The party asked, “Will the PM and defence minister now come forward to tell the nation as to how much of our territory has been illegally occupied by the Chinese, post April/May, 2020?”
Surjewala said the PM must tell the nation what the government proposes to do to meet the challenging situation which has “serious ramifications for national security and territorial integrity”.