Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to address Parliament on India-China LAC stand-off today

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP)


Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address the Parliament on Tuesday on the China stand-off. It is expected that Singh’s address will commence at 3 pm as the Lok Sabha session begins.

The government has been under attack by the opposition since the Chinese army intruded at the eastern border of the Ladakh region.

The matter was also raised on Sunday at the parliament’s Business Advisory Committee meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had said that the government will take a decision keeping in mind the “sensitivities of the situation, and the strategic points.

The foreign ministers of India and China had met at the sidelines of the SCO summit in Moscow, the Chinese government told that their foreign minister Wang Yi told S Jaishankar that the imperative is to immediately stop provocations such as firing a Wang Yi and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides.

According to the Chinese authorities, Wang said at the meeting that the India-China relations have once again come to a crossroads.

“As two large developing countries emerging rapidly, what China and India need right now is cooperation, not confrontation; and mutual trust, not suspicion. Whenever the situation gets difficult, it is all the more important to ensure the stability of the overall relationship and preserve mutual trust,” said the China statement.

The Indian and Chinese foreign ministers, S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi after two-and-half hours of bilateral talks agreed to disengage and de-escalate the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The duo also came to a five-point agreement.

According to the statement, the two ministers agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries on developing India-China relations, and ensure differences do not become disputes.

“The two foreign ministers agreed the current situation was not in the interest of either side. “They agreed therefore that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions,” the MEA statement had said.

Prior to Foreign Ministers meeting, Defence Ministers of both the countries had also discussed the issue.

“I am not underplaying the seriousness of the current situation or the actual challenges of the boundary question. It is vital for both countries to reach and accomplish, not just for them. I think that one has a lot riding. I am also conscious that right now we have a situation in the border areas of the western sector. We have agreements and understandings with China the agreements and understandings must be scrupulously observed by both parties, neither party should attempt to change the status quo unilaterally. And the reality is, what happens on the border, will impact the relationship, you cannot separate it,” Rajnath Singh had said.