On Thursday, former Congress president and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government for sending soldiers ‘unarmed’.
He wrote: “How dare China kill our UNARMED soldiers? Why were our soldiers sent UNARMED to martyrdom?”
He also uploaded video in Hindi where he asks the same question. In fact, a lot of people have been asking why our bravehearts were sent without weapons, especially after it emerged that China used sticks with barbed wires on India soldiers.
It's something that a lot of people have been wondering, why soldiers didn't use their guns.
However, as columnist Mihir Sharma pointed out, as did we at the FPJ yesterday, there’s an old agreement not to take guns 2KM in the vicinity of the LAC.
The reason guns weren’t brought was because of an agreement between India and China from 1996.
Read it below:
ARTICLE VI With a view to preventing dangerous military activities along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas, the two sides agree as follows:
(1) Neither side shall open fire, cause bio-degradation, use hazardous chemicals, conduct blast operations or hunt with guns or explosives within two kilometers from the line of actual control. This prohibition shall not apply to routine firing activities in small arms firing ranges.
(2) If there is a need to conduct blast operations within two kilometers of the line of actual control as part of developmental activities, the other side shall be informed through diplomatic channels or by convening a border personnel meeting, preferably five days in advance.
(3) While conducting exercises with live ammunition in areas close to the line of actual control, precaution shall be taken to ensure that a bullet or a missile does not accidentally fall on the other side across the line of actual control and causes harm to the personnel or property of the other side. (4) If the border personnel of the two sides come in a face-to-face situation due to differences on the alignment of the line of actual control o any other reason, they shall exercise self-restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid an escalation of the situation. Both sides shall also enter into immediate consultations through diplomatic and/or other available channels to review the situation and prevent any escalation of tension.
Later on Thursday, Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar too took to Twitter to reiterate the same. Replying to Gandhi's post Jaishankar said that all troop who are on border duty "always carry arms, especially when leaving post".
"Those at Galwan on 15 June did so. Long-standing practice (as per 1996 and 2005 agreements) not to use firearms during faceoffs," he added.
