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Disengagement process with China complete after 9 rounds of talks: Rajnath Singh
Singh added that China has agreed to withdraw from the territory it has encroached.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the disengagement process between India and China is complete “after nine rounds of military and diplomatic talks.” Singh was speaking at BJP’s youth conference in Salem district in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. “As the defence minister, I have to tell you about what is happening in the India-China standoff,” Singh said.
“After nine rounds of talks, a scenario favourable to us has happened. Congress alleges that we have ceded Indian territory but as long I’ve my blood and life in this body, we will never cede even an inch to any country. The country will not allow any "unilateral action" on our border by anyone. We will not keep quiet. After nine rounds of diplomatic and military talks, disengagement is complete,” Singh said, adding that China has agreed to withdraw from the territory it has encroached.
The standoff between the neighbouring countries began last May and saw both sides deploy 50,000 troops each. Senior military commanders of the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have had several rounds of meetings in eastern Ladakh to discuss further disengagement of their troops along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC).
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Singh attacked the Congress for ‘doubting the sacrifice’ of the Indian Army and soldiers and questioned if the Congress was good or bad to which the crowd replied in the latter. “I want to give you the confidence that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty will never be compromised,” Singh said.
The defence minister participated in the rally along with Bengaluru MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya and senior state BJP leaders.
The BJP, which has a meagre presence in the southern state, will face the Assembly elections in April- May in alliance with the ruling AIADMK.
“We will have A two-thirds majority. Lotus flower and two leaves combination can bring prosperity to Tamil Nadu,” said Singh. He criticised the principal opposition led by DMK with Congress in the fold as “strange bedfellows”. Singh spoke of central schemes having benefited Tamil Nadu and that the state’s youngsters and women had sought the highest loans to the tune of 33,087 crores under the Mudra Yojana.
