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India PMO clarifies Modi’s comments on LAC clash


Published : 20 Jun 2020 09:44 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 03:07 PM

The government of India on Saturday said that attempts are being made to give "mischievous interpretation" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at the all-party meeting that no one entered Indian territory or captured any military post while referring to the Galwan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh.

"As regards transgression of LAC [Line of Actual Control], it was clearly stated that the violence in Galwan on 15 June arose because Chinese side was seeking to erect structures just across the LAC and refused to desist from such actions," clarified Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement.

"Prime Minister was clear that India would respond firmly to any attempts to transgress the Line of Actual Control. In fact, he specifically emphasized that in contrast to the past neglect of such challenges, Indian forces now decisively counter any violations of LAC (unhe rokte hain, unhe tokte hain)," Times of India quoted the statement as saying.

The Times of India report said following the all-party meeting (APM) on Friday about the LAC row with China, the Prime Minister said that nobody had intruded India's borders and none of the posts had come under anyone's custody.

According to the report, the Congress as well as a number of strategic affairs experts raised questions over Modi's remarks asking if there was no transgression by the Chinese military in Galwan Valley then where Indian soldiers died. They also wondered whether Modi gave a clean chit to China over the standoff.

The PMO statement clarified that PM Modi’s observations that there was no Chinese presence on Indian side of the LAC "pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces."

The PMO said that the Indian soldiers at Galwan "foiled the attempt of the Chinese side to erect structures and also cleared the attempted transgression at this point of the LAC on that day."

Countering the criticism that PM Modi did not take a strong stance against the Chinese incursion, the PMO said the Prime Minister had "succinctly summed up the ethos and the values of our armed forces" when he said that "those who tried to transgress our land were taught a befitting lesson by our brave sons of the soil."

The statement further said that the Prime Minister in his Friday's APM address had emphasised that the "armed forces will leave no stone unturned to protect our borders.”

Dismissing the criticism of PM Modi's APM speech as "an unnecessary controversy", PMO said that "the predominant sentiment at the All Party Meeting was of unequivocal support to the Government and the armed forces at a time of national crisis."
"We are confident that the unity of the Indian people will not be undermined by motivated propaganda," said the statement.