India wants end to border tension with China but will never allow an inch of land to be taken away: Defence minister
Indian soldiers will never allow even an inch of the country to be taken away by anyone, said Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday.
“We want an end to the border tension with China in eastern Ladakh. However, our soldiers will never allow even an inch of the country to be taken away by anyone,” Singh said.
Defence minister Singh said this after performing “Shastra Puja” — the customary worship of weapons — at the headquarters of the Indian Army’s 33 Corps at Sukna in Darjeeling.
Singh was scheduled to perform the puja at Sherathang, a high-altitude border area near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Sikkim, but could not go there due to inclement weather, said offiacials.
Chief of Army Staff Gen. MM Naravane and several senior officers of the Army were present on the occasion when the defence minister performed the “puja” at the key military base, which is responsible for guarding the LAC in the Sikkim sector.
After performing the puja, Singh inaugurated a new road in Sikkim via a video-conference from Sukna.
“I can say with confidence and on the basis of concrete information that the courage and deeds of Indian soldiers during whatever has happened at the India-China border in Ladakh recently will be written in golden letters by the historians,” he said.
Twenty Indian Army troopers lost their lives in a violent clash with Chinese PLA troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15.
The incident had significantly escalated the border tension between the two countries.