Neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our posts captured: PM Modi at all-party meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that neither Chinese troops are inside the India territory nor any of the Indian posts has been captured by them, as he held an all-party meeting where leaders across political spectrum displayed a united front on the matter of national security.

Modi said that 20 brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the violent clash with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh, "taught a lesson to those who dared to look towards our motherland". 

"Neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured. Twenty of our jawans were martyred, but those who dared Bharat Mata, they were taught a lesson," the Prime Minister said without naming China.

He thundered that the armed forces were capable of protecting the territorial integrity of the country. India's armed forces have the capability to move into multiple sectors at one go, he said. 

"Whether it is deployment, action, counter-action...air, land or sea, whatever our armed forces have to do to protect our country they will do," he said at the virtual all-party meeting attended by leaders of 20 major parties. 

The meeting was held in the view of the violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on June 15-16 in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. The clash took place as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh, India has said.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.

In his concluding remarks, Modi said, "Today, we possess the capability that no one can eye even one inch of our land. India`s armed forces have the capability to move into multiple sectors at one go. Till now, those who were never questioned or stopped, now our jawans stop them and warn them at multiple sectors." 

The Prime Minister said that the government has given importance to infrastructure development to protect the borders.

"In the past few years to protect our borders we have given importance to infrastructure development. The requirements of our armed forces, be it fighter planes, advanced helicopters, missile defence systems, that too is being given importance," he said.

The meeting started with a tribute to soldiers who lost their lives.

Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said there was no intelligence failure which resulted in the violent face-off and the loss of lives. 

"There was no intelligence failure," Singh said, according to sources quoted by ANI. His response came on the query of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Gandhi targetted the government over its handling of "intrusions" by China in Eastern Ladakh, saying it lost time, "failed" to use all avenues which resulted in the loss of lives of 20 soldiers and asked if there was an intelligence failure.

Gandhi said that the opposition parties and people were still in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis.

Besides Modi and Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also attended the meeting. Thea top four ministers form the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the Prime Minister. 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao, JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar, DMK's MK Stalin, YSR Congress Party's YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray were among those who attended the meeting.

BJP president JP Nadda, CPI's D Raja, CPIM's Sitaram Yechury, BJP's Pinaki Mishra, TMC's Mamata Banerjee, Akali Dal's Sukhbir Badal, LJP's Chirag Paswan, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP's Mayawati, RPI's Ramdas Athawale, NPP's Conrad Sangama, SKM's Prem Singh Tamang and MNF's Zoramthanga.