Need to find ways to end Ladakh standoff: Ram Madhav

Speaking at the fourth edition of the Military Literature Festival, the BJP leader said the stand off will bleed India more than China

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav on Friday said the continued standoff at the border will bleed India more than China and that there was a need to find a way to solve and end it.

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“My only point is our standing off with China at the border will bleed us more. China can probably afford standing at the border for 8 to 10 months, but every day we are bleeding economically. So, ideally we have to find a way to solve this standoff and end it,” Madhav said during a virtual panel discussion at the Military Literature Festival.

He added that the one good thing that was happening today was that we were insisting on talking about the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which can help define it.

Ram Madhav

He was responding to the comments of Lieutenant General Harcharanjit Singh Panag (retd), a former commanding officer of army’s Northern Command.

In his opening remarks, Madhav said China was a big challenge and spoke about the need to look beyond the immediate China threat to achieve long-term goals.

“Whatever happens in the coming months in that sector (Ladakh) is not going to conclusively solve problem between the two countries. What is of utmost importance to us at one level is to respond to immediate challenges that we face today. But, at the same we should not lose sight of India’s long-term strategic objectives and in that stream of things, how to handle countries like China,” he said.

Stating that militarily and at the government-level, the immediate challenge had been dealt with in an appropriate manner, Madhav said India had been able to limit the issue and had not drifted to join any camps.