‘How dare China kill our UNARMED soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?’ Gandhi had commented.
S. Jaishankar. (File Photo: IANS)
Union Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, on Thursday, took on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks of the recent India-China stand-off along the LAC in Ladakh.
Rahul Gandhi had tweeted a video on Thursday morning, asking why Indian soldiers were “unarmed” during the face-off with the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night.
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“How dare China kill our UNARMED soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?” Gandhi had commented, evoking massive response on Twitter.
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Responding on his remarks, Jaishankar said, “Let us get the facts straight, all troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post.”
“Those at Galwan on 15 June did so. Long-standing practice (as per 1996 & 2005 agreements) not to use firearms during faceoffs,” he wrote.
However, many commentators on Twitter asked Jaishankar why the Foreign Minister, and not Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was issuing a statement on matters related to military protocol and standoff. Some commentators also asked why the soldiers who died did not use their arms, if they were carrying them.
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