India-China troops clash: Congress seeks statement from PM, discussion on issue in Parliament

The clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh is set to rock Parliament on Tuesday with several Congress MPs demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation at the border.

The Congress MPs have given adjournment notices in both houses of Parliament to discuss the border situation with China.

While Manish Tewari has given a notice in the lower house, Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Syed Nasir Hussain have given similar adjournment notices in the upper house.

Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the face-off resulted in “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides”, the Indian Army said.

The clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive sector took place last Friday amid the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.

In his notice, Surjewala said all business of the House be suspended and the “brazen Chinese transgressions and illegal occupations in Indian territory and the Chinese provocation at the Tawang sector” be discussed urgently.

He urged Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to make a statement and hold a discussion over the issue in the Rajya Sabha.

Similar unconfirmed reports of Chinese transgressions are coming from Doklam area, he said.

“All these disconcerting reports of Chinese transgressions and illegal occupations require suspension of the business of the House of the day in order to appraise the House and the nation about the growing Chinese threat to our national security and territorial integrity.

“Public interest demands that the prime minister and defence minister make a statement in the House and apprise the nation of the Chinese transgressions into Indian territory across the LAC, since April 2020 till date,” Surjewala said in his notice.

Tewari also gave a notice in the Lok Sabha, saying clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Tawang are “serious” and the House needs to discuss the matter.

“I urge the Government to inform the House of the situation in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh and the overall border situation with China because it concerns India’s sovereignty and independence,” Tewari said in his notice.

Several other Congress members in the Rajya Sabha, including Rajni Patil, Ranjeet Ranjan, Shaktisinh Gohil and Jebi Mather, also moved similar adjournment notices demanding a discussion on the issue.