New Delhi, June 19:
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today said that the country “would like an assurance that status quo would be restored and China will revert back to the original position on Line of Actual Control” as she made her opening remarks at the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening. “Even at this late stage, we are still in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis,” the 73-year-old Congress leader said in a statement as she raised several questions for the government.
“We have some specific questions, for the government: On which date did the Chinese troops intrude into our territory in Ladakh? When did the government find out about the Chinese transgressions into our territory? Was it on May 5th, as reported, or earlier? Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country?” the Congress chief asked.
Did our external intelligence agencies not report any unusual activity along the LAC? Did the Military Intelligence not alert the government about the intrusion and the build-up of massive forces along the LAC, whether on the Chinese side or on the Indian side? In the government’s considered view, was there a failure of intelligence?” Sonia Gandhi further asked.
Seeking government’s response on the details of Ladakh face-off, Ms Gandhi said that “valuable time was lost between May 5 and June 6”.
“We failed to use all avenues, and the result is the loss of 20 lives as well as dozens injured. I would urge the Prime Minister to kindly share with us all the facts and the sequence of events beginning April this year till date,” she added.
