At the meeting, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and leaders of allied parties made it clear that they will help project a united face of the nation by standing with the government and forces. However, they put the onus on the PM to act firmly and answer questions

NEW DELHI: Congress has rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that there was no Chinese intrusion into Indian soil and called it the “denial of gravity of the situation”, signaling collapse of the attempted consensus at the all-party meeting. Major opposition parties also made it clear at the meeting the PM had convened that their solidarity to stand by the government and project a united nation had conditions attached, including getting the Chinese to evacuate from the Galwan Valley, making PLA to take pre-April/May positions and barring Chinese FDI and companies from key Indian sectors.

Speaking to ET after the PM’s speech at the meeting, AICC foreign affairs department chairman Anand Sharma said “the prime minister's claim that there is no intrusion of Chinese troops into Indian soil has left all of us confused and concerned about the thinking in government. It amounts to over-simplification and denial of gravity of the situation which has serious implications for our national security.”

The Left parties too questioned the PM’s claim. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “then there is no conflict? Why have our brave soldiers been martyred? Why this allparty meeting?” Echoing similar sentiments, CPI’s D Raja said “what was the PM speaking? If there was no intrusion by the Chinese troops, what are these issues all about? What about the killing of our brave soldiers? What is he trying to say?”

At the meeting, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and leaders of allied parties made it clear that they will help project a united face of the nation by standing with the government and forces. However, they put the onus on the PM to act firmly and answer questions. Gandhi urged the PM to ensure the Chinese forces reverted to the pre-intrusion position along the Line of Actual Control and the opposition is briefed and updated about the country’s defence preparedness. NCP chief and former defence minister Sharad Pawar demanded “PLA must be evacuated from occupying high ground in Galwan Valley on the Indian side” through “compulsory measurers” and diplomatic strategies to “defuse tension.”

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee wanted the PM to ensure “we will not bow our head down to China” and the Centre to tweak the FDI policy to bar Chinese companies into telecom, railways and aviation sectors. DMK chief MK Stalin said everybody was united “when it comes to patriotism” and welcomed “the recent statements by the PM on the Chinese issue” in reference to Modi’s vow to avenge the martyrdom of 20 soldiers.

Speaking at the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said, “What is the way forward? The entire country would like an assurance that status quo ante would be restored and China will revert back to the original position on Line of Actual Control.

We would also like to be briefed on the preparedness of our defence forces to meet any threat. In particular, I would like to ask what is the current status of the Mountain Strike Corps, with two mountain infantry divisions, sanctioned in 2013? Should the government not treat it with utmost priority,” asked Gandhi.

She accused the government of not informing the opposition on time about the Chinese intrusion. “Even at this late stage, we are still in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis. We have some specific questions, for the government: On which date did the Chinese troops intrude into our territory in Ladakh? When did the government find out about the Chinese transgressions into our territory? Was it on May 5, as reported, or earlier? Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country? We in the Congress party believe that valuable time was lost between May 5 and June 6, the date on which the Corps Commanders meeting took place. Even after the June 6 meeting, efforts should have been made to talk directly, at the political and diplomatic levels, to the leadership of China. We failed to use all avenues, and the result is the loss of 20 lives as well as dozens injured. I would urge the prime minister to kindly share with us all the facts and the sequence of events beginning April this year till date.”