Punjab CM calls for aggressive steps to take back Galwan valley

Advocating aggressive steps to take back the Galwan Valley territory seized by the Chinese, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday urged the government of India to issue an ultimatum to Beijing to vacate the occupied land immediately, with a clear warning that failure to do so would lead to serious consequences for them.

While India would also have to suffer some consequences of such an act, it could no longer afford to allow such intrusions and attacks on its territorial integrity to continue, said Amarinder, while talking informally to mediapersons at the Chandigarh airbase where he had gone to pay tributes to the jawans from Punjab and Himachal whose mortal remains were flown in from Galwan valley.

Laying a wreath on the mortal remains of Gurbinder Singh from Sangrur, Gurtej Singh from Mansa and Ankush from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Amarinder saluted their supreme sacrifice and said the nation was forever indebted to them.

Declaring himself to be totally against following an appeasement policy vis-a-vis China, he said past experience showed that when faced with aggression, the Chinese had always backed off.

It was time to call their bluff, he asserted, reiterating that every Indian wants a befitting response to be given to the Chinese.

The Chinese, with their salami-slicing tactics, had been nibbling into Indian territory piece by piece since 1962, said the Chief Minister, demanding an end to these intrusions, which 60 years of diplomacy had failed to stop.

Questioning the so-called agreement which prevented Indian troops from firing (even if they had weapons), Amarinder demanded to know who had come up with such an agreement.

"How can one have an agreement of this nature with a hostile neighbour?" he asked.

In any case, it was clear that the attack on Indian soldiers was a premeditated one by the Chinese, who had come prepared with their crude but deadly weapons, he said, adding that by carrying nail studded and barbed-wire clubs and by attacking our troops they had abrogated whatever agreement was in place.

In the circumstances, the Indian soldiers had full right to retaliate using their own weapons, he remarked, adding that India alone could not be responsible for adherence to the terms of the agreement.

Unrelenting in his demand to know why the soldiers posted in Galwan valley failed to open fire, if they were indeed carrying weapons, after their commanding officer fell, Amarinder said the colonel's death at the hands of the Chinese was an insult to the entire Indian Army.

Asserting that he could not believe that the men at the LAC failed to open fire even after witnessing such a horrendous sight, he said the Indian Army is well trained and equipped with the best of weapons, which it has every right to use when faced with such a brutal and treacherous attack.

The Chief Minister recalled that during his term with the Army, armed soldiers were always strategically deployed whenever their senior officers went for meetings with the other side, and were ready to jump in for a rescue operation if needed.

"Why were soldiers not so deployed in this case? And if they were, why did they not use their weapons to rescue the officers and men under attack?" he asked.

If the situation is allowed to escalate further, then China, in collusion with Pakistan, would get further emboldened to encroach into more Indian territory, which had to be stopped at all costs, said the Chief Minister.