No power can stop Indian troops from patrolling our border, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in P

NEW DELHI: No power on earth can stop Indian security forces from patrolling up to its traditional points on the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, defence minister Rajnath Singh said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday in response to a query.

Singh was responding to former defence minister AK Antony and former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, both from Congress, who asked Singh about the government’s plans to restore the status quo ante in eastern Ladakh. Singh said he would not go into operational details but could informally brief political leaders on the situation later. However, he asserted there would be no compromise as far as border patrolling was concerned.

“Former minister AK Antony has said that China is trying to stop us from going to patrolling points…I want to make it clear that is why there is a conflict. These patrolling points are traditional and are well marked. No power on earth can stop the Indian Army from this patrolling,” Singh said.

Singh gave a backgrounder on the border and the building up of tension since early May. The minister said the PLA took action to hinder traditional patrolling pattern of the Indian Army in the Galwan valley and attempted transgressions at other areas like Gogra, northern bank of Pangong lake and Kongka La. “We made it clear to the Chinese, through diplomatic and military channels that by such actions China was attempting to unilaterally alter the status quo ante. It was categorically conveyed that this was unacceptable,” Singh said.

Singh said while India wanted to resolve the situation through dialogue and has conveyed the same, China has not been matching its words with actions on the ground. “It is apparent from Chinese activities that their words don’t match their actions. A case in point was China’s provocative military manoeuvres, on the night of 29th and 30th August, to change status quo in the south bank of Pangong lake when talks were on.”