Thursday is the fourth day of the monsoon session of Parliament. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the ongoing deadlock with China in the eastern Ladakh region. In his statement in Rajya Sabha, Rajnath Singh said that we are facing a challenge in East Ladakh, we want to resolve the issue peacefully and our armed forces stand firmly to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
Rajnath Singh said that on June 15, Colonel Santosh Babu along with his 19 brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in Galvan Valley with the aim of saving the integrity of India. Our PM himself went to Ladakh to boost the morale of the army. Rajnath Singh said that there were several agreements on the border to restore peace between the two countries, but China does not accept formal borders. The House is aware that the India-China boundary question is still unresolved. China does not accept the customs and traditional alignment of the boundaries of India and China. This boundary line is based on well-established geographical principles.
'China has the unauthorized occupation of Ladakh'
Rajnath Singh said that China is in an unauthorized occupation of about 38,000 square kilometers of land in Ladakh. In addition, under a so-called Boundary Agreement in 1963, Pakistan illegally handed over 5,180 square kilometers of Indian land of PoK to China. Along with this, China also claims about 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory in the eastern region of the Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
He further said that India-China border areas do not yet have a genuinely marked Line of Actual Control and the two sides have a different understanding of the Line of Actual Control. Therefore, there are several agreements and protocols between the two countries to maintain peace.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the 1993 and 1996 agreements mention that the LAAC will keep both countries at least the number of its forces. The agreement also states that until the boundary issue is fully resolved, the LAC will be strictly enforced.
'The head of the country will not let you bow down'
Rajnath Singh said that I want to assure 130 crore people of the country that we will not let the head of the country bow down at any cost, nor do we want to bow the head of anyone. He said that our army inflicted heavy losses on China in Galvan.
Rajnath Singh said that there is a difference between China's words and actions. I request the House that our brave soldiers should be praised for their bravery and bravery. Our brave soldiers are keeping all the countrymen safe by their untiring efforts in extremely difficult circumstances.
'Indian Army shows China both restraint and bravery'
Rajnath said that the conduct of our Armed Forces shows that he sustained 'Sayam' in the face of provocative activities and also demonstrated 'Shaurya' as necessary to protect the territorial integrity of India. The action by China is in violation of our various bilateral agreements.
Respect and strict inspection of the Line of Actual Control is the basis for peace and stability in the border areas. Our Armed Forces have clearly followed this, while the Chinese side is not doing so. China has undertaken significant infrastructure construction activities over the last several decades to increase its deployment capabilities in border areas. In response, our government has also increased the budget for border infrastructure development, which has almost doubled already.
He said that I want to assure the countrymen that the vigor and courage of all our armed forces personnel are high, our soldiers are ready to face any crisis. The message of unity and complete trust, given from this House, will reverberate throughout the country and all over the world, and our youth, who stand steadfast with eye to eye with Chinese forces, will have new morale, energy, and enthusiasm.