Nobody crossed our borders, martyrs taught them a lesson: PM Modi on Ladakh clash

"I can assure that neither anyone has crossed our borders nor is any post been captured," PM Modi said in an address after the all-party meeting.

"Twenty of our brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in Ladakh but also taught a lesson to those who dared to look towards our motherland," he said.

Modi reiterated in the all-party meeting that the Indian soldiers will take all necessary actions to give a befitting reply to all who hurt the country's territorial integrity.

"India wants peace and tranquillity but upholding sovereignty is foremost," PM Modi said.

"I assure you that our soldiers are fully equipped to protect our borders. I thank all parties and their leaders for taking out time for the meeting and your suggestions are highly appreciated," said Modi to all party leaders who attended the meeting.

"Armed forces have been given a free hand to take all necessary steps," he said.

"All necessary steps for national security and construction of infrastructure will continue at a fast pace," the PM added.

The meeting was attended by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among other leaders.

During the meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the nation will never forget the sacrifice of the martyrs.

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar gave an overview of agreements between India and China on border management and informed about the directions given by the Prime Minister in 2014 to give highest priority to development of infrastructure in border areas in the regions identified and approved by the Cabinet in 1999, and also shared details of recent developments.

During her opening remarks at the meeting, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi said: "We are still in the dark about various crucial aspects of this crisis."

In her statement, tweeted by the INC India official handle, Gandhi asked a few specific questions to 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 5th, as reported, or earlier? Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country?"

She also enquired if there was an intelligence failure about the movement of Chinese troopers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"Did our external intelligence agencies not report any unusual activity along the LAC? Did the Military Intelligence not alert the government about the intrusion and the build-up of massive forces along the LAC, whether on the Chinese side or on the Indian side? In the government's considered view, was there a failure of intelligence?" Gandhi further asked.

The Congress supremo also pointed out that her party believes that valuable time was lost between May 5 and June 6, the date on which Corps Commanders meeting took place.

Seeking the Centre's response, Gandhi said: "The question is, what's next? The entire country would like an assurance that status quo would be restored and China will revert back to the original position on Line of Actual Control."

"We in the Indian National Congress and the entire opposition unitedly stand by our defence forces and are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure they are battle-ready," she added.

 Mamata Banerjee said her Trinamool Congress Party stood strongly in solidarity with the government.

"We want peaceful co-existance with all our neighbours but we cannot ever compromise when our nation's sovereignity and territorial integrity is violated," she said.

Her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar said that there should be no difference amongst the leaders and parties should not allow any disunity which can be exploited by other nations.