Indian Government has been trying to resolve the month-long stand-off with China at the Sikkim border diplomatically and the leading political parties on Friday backed the government’s initiative. The all party meeting was convened by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the political parties assured the NDA government that the parties would rise above politics on matters concerning national security. The all party meeting was convened to bring the opposition parties to update on the Sikkim stand-off and also the terrorist attack on Amarnath Yatris which killed 7 people. The meeting was also for seeking to build support for the government’s action ahead of the monsoon session which begins on 17th July 2017.
Anand Sharma of the Congress party pressed the need for employing diplomacy to ease tensions. He pointed out that the concerns of the party have been conveyed to the government and he also wanted to de-escalate the situation at the border to maintain peace in the region. The government was in agreement with this stance of the opposition and felt that the recent agreement between the two countries, India and China, that “differences between them should not become disputes”. The all party meeting was attended by 19 lawmakers from different political parties and they were briefed by the senior ministers and top officials. Government is also holding a second round of meeting for the remaining political parties. Anand Sharma also mentioned that the present stand-off and the attack on pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra will be discussed in the parliament during the monsoon session.
China in the meantime has been warning that it will not allow any resolution without India withdrawing its soldiers from “its territory” and India has so far refused pressing the need for dialogue to solve the pressure situation in the tri-junction of India, Tibet and Bhutan. The claim of China is that Indian soldiers crossed to its territory to stop its army from building a road in an area called Donglang. India and Bhutan has been claiming that the area where the road is built by China belongs to Bhutan. The road, according to India, is a serious security concern because it gives Beijing access to a thin wedge which links mainland India and it seven north-eastern states. The meeting also briefed the political parties about the Amarnath Yatra attack and the steps taken by the government to secure the pilgrims and also about the deployment of more than 20,000 soldiers in the region.
