Defence minister Rajnath Singh to make a statement in Rajya Sabha on Ladakh situation tomorrow
“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh will make a statement in Rajya Sabha tomorrow regarding ‘Present Situation in Eastern Ladakh,” Singh's office tweeted.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday about the situation in Eastern Ladakh, where India is engaged in a standoff with China. This was announced by the defence minister’s office on Wednesday.
“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh will make a statement in Rajya Sabha tomorrow regarding ‘Present Situation in Eastern Ladakh,” Singh's office tweeted.
The announcement came after a demand was made by Congress and other opposition parties.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had highlighted the recent statement made by Union minister VK Singh on the LAC standoff. He had said that Singh's statement will give China a chance to tarnish India's image at global level.
"Union minister VK Singh has made a statement which has been widely published in the newspapers about LAC transgressions. And China has picked that up; it will give our neighbour a chance to tarnish our image," Chowdhury said.
"I request the defence minister to throw some light on the latest situation on the LAC and on the minister's statement," he added.
Singh was addressing a function in Tamil Nadu's Madurai where he said that the LAC has not been clearly defined and both India and China have crossed their perceptions of the undemarcated LAC many times.
“Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times,” he had said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday demanded that Singh, the minister of state for transport and highways, should be sacked. Congress MP Manish Tewari moved an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha and said that Singh’s statement on the standoff had been picked up by the Chinese foreign ministry, as an “unwitting confession by the Indian side.”
Meanwhile, the former army chief said in a statement that his comments were "distorted" and they had nothing to do with what he had actually said on Sunday. “I have simply stated the established fact that the borders along the LAC have not been demarcated and until that is done there will always be differing perceptions,” he said in the statement.
Meanwhile, the Chinese defence ministry said on Wednesday that the frontline troops of both the countries in Eastern Ladakh had begun a synchronised and organised disengagement today, as per a statement issued by spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, Senior Colonel Wu Qian.