Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in both houses of Parliament on Tuesday, December 13, on the clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, government sources said. The minister will make a statement on the issue in the Lok Sabha likely at 12 noon and in the Rajya Sabha around 2 pm, the sources told PTI. This is the first serious face-off between India and China since the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, in which at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the face-off resulted in "minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides", the Indian Army said on Monday. The clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive sector took place last Friday amid the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.
Congress MPs have given adjournment notices in both houses of Parliament to discuss the border situation with China. Manish Tewari has given a notice in the lower house, in which he said there were concerns about major gaps in military deployment in certain border areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
The controversy over the incident further escalated on Monday, as a report in The Telegraph quoted BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh Tapir Gao saying that a group of Indian soldiers had been attacked by nearly 600 Chinese soldiers who came inside Indian territory. Tapir Gao said that six Indian soldiers were injured severely in the clashes, and were being treated at a hospital in Guwahati. The Hindu had reported that a few soldiers sustained fractured limbs during the clashes.
Manish Tewari in his notice in the Lok Sabha said, "I wish to draw the attention of the Government to the grave border situation with China emerging from the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.” Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Syed Nasir Hussain have given similar adjournment notices in the upper house.
"At least six of our soldiers have been reportedly injured and taken to Guwahati for treatment. There are also concerns about major gaps in military deployment in certain border areas of Arunachal Pradesh. These clashes are in addition to what has been happening in Eastern Ladakh where, despite multiple rounds of talks … China has vehemently refused to vacate areas it reportedly occupied after the major clash on May 5, 2020. The crises in areas such as Depsang and Demchok remain unresolved. Locals that had hitherto travelled to the Charding La-Nilung Nalla Junction have been denied access by the Chinese," Manish Tewari said in his notice.
The notice says, "China has, in the meantime, built substantial military infrastructure all across the Line of Actual Control. China is unwilling to restore the status quo ante in Eastern Ladakh, a situation that puts India at a massive disadvantage. I, therefore, urge the Government to inform the House of the situation in Tawang Arunachal Pradesh and the overall border situation with China because it concerns India's sovereignty and independence.”
With PTI and IANS inputs