No Peace and Tranquillity if There’s No Status Quo Ante at LAC, Says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said there will be no peace and tranquillity if there is no status quo ante at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. He also asked why the government is insulting the sacrifices of Indian soldiers.

“No status quo ante = No peace and tranquility. Why is Government of India (GOI) insulting the sacrifice of our jawans and letting go of our territory?” he wrote on Twitter. The former Congress chief’s remarks came soon after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in the Rajya Sabha, saying India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh that mandates both sides to cease forward deployment of troops in a “phased, coordinated and verifiable” manner.

Sharing details of the pact to defuse the tense military face-off in eastern Ladakh that severely strained the ties between the two Asian giants, Singh also assured the Upper House of Parliament that the country has not conceded anything in the sustained talks with China. India will not allow even an inch of its territory to be taken by anyone, he said. The defence minister said the implementation of the pact will “substantially restore” the situation to the one that existed prior to the standoff which erupted on May 5 last year, adding that the two sides have agreed that they should achieve complete disengagement at the “earliest” and abide fully by the bilateral agreements and protocols.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha a day after China announced the disengagement process, Singh said both sides have agreed to remove structures that were built since April last in the north and south bank areas of the Pangong lake, and put in place a temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling the traditional areas.