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NEW DELHI: No one entered Indian territory nor were Indian posts taken over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the six-week border standoff with China as he briefed prominent political leaders about the killing of 20 soldiers in the Galwan Valley that triggered a massive escalaton in tension between the two countries.
At an all-party meeting, he said the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice taught a “lesson” to those who had dared to look towards India and that the army has been given “freedom” to take necessary steps.
“At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured,” the government said in a statement, adding he assured the leaders that the armed forces are leaving no stone unturned to protect the country.
The categorical statement by the prime minister came in the wake of reports that Chinese military has transgressed into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border, in several areas of eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley.
“While on the one hand, the army has been given freedom to take necessary steps, India has also conveyed its position clearly to China through diplomatic means,” he said, adding that India today has such capability that no one can even dare to look towards “an inch of our land”.
Modi said the entire country is hurt and angry at the steps taken by China at the LAC and underscored that India wants peace and friendship, but upholding sovereignty is “foremost”.
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