Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday called for a strong response to the Chinese aggression in Ladakh that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. He said “If they kill one of ours, kill five of theirs”.
He also raised questions about sending Indian army to defend Line of Actual Control without weapons. He went on to say “Send RSS workers with lathis instead, not our soldiers”.
He said “I don’t know who issued this orders. Troops should always patrol with weapons. The Chinese came prepared, our boys were not prepared. My first posting was in 1963 on the Chinese border, none of us went out without our weapons”.
Even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had raised questions about sending the soldiers unarmed. However, External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar clarified that the soldiers always carry weapons and that it was the 1996 and 2005 agreements that prevented them from firing.
The Punjab CM said that the Chinese were following a ‘salami policy’ by taking the Indian territory slice by slice. He called for giving a befitting response along the lines of Balakot air strikes.
“What do you mean you can’t do a Balakot? What are the Biharis and Punjabis sitting there for? The moment this incident this took place, there should have been a reaction? You think we should chicken out to the Chinese?” he said.
Captain Amarinder Singh’s remarks came following the violent clash at Galwan Valley between the Indian and Chinese troops.