Sushma Swaraj calls all-party meeting to brief opposition on border standoff with China
The meeting will be held at the residence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh where several other Ministers, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will also be present.
Swaraj is likely to apprise the opposition parties of the month-long chain of events and the steps initiated by the Narendra Modi Government.
The Government move to convene the all-party meeting is being seen as a measure to take along tbuihe opposition on the sensitive issue and avoid trouble in the next Parliament session.
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The ongoing military standoff has heightened tension at the Bhutan-India-China tri-junction in Doklam, a disputed territory claimed by both Bhutan and China, where the Indian Army have reached to stop China from building a road.
Taking a serious note of the Chinese activities, Delhi has described it as a major security concern since it gives China access to the narrow strip of land connecting mainland India to its north-eastern states.
China has accused India of trespassing into its territory and demanded withdrawal of troops leading to a heated exchange.
While India and Bhutan say the land belongs to the tiny Himalayan kingdom and that the Indian troops are there at the request of Bhutan, China has warned that it will not accept any dialogue till Indian soldiers pull out from Doklam.
"China has explicitly pointed out that the illegal trespass of Indian border troops into China's territory this time took place at the defined Sikkim section of the China-India boundary, which is utterly different in nature from the previous frictions between the two sides at the undefined sections of the China-India boundary," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
In reply, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said that the India of 2017 is different from the India of 1962.
Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh also said India is better equipped today to meet any challenges than it was in 1962.
The opposition, particularly the Congress, has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the confrontation and the way the situation is being handled.
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