While not advocating war, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday urged the Centre to take a tough stand on the continuing border stand-off with China if the neighbouring country was not responding to diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue.
"As sovereign nations, both countries should find a diplomatic solution to the problem. India does not want war but we will not accept bullying by China. We want peace, but they cannot push us around. The Chinese had to be pushed back, out of the Indian territory," a press statement quoted Singh as saying in response to questions during his video press conference.
"The problem needs to be resolved through negotiations and diplomacy, but we cannot turn our back to the threat posed by the aggressive moves of the Chinese at the border," he added.
Asserting that India cannot keep allowing its land to go away, the Chief Minister said if the threat is not countered, the Chinese will demand more and more land in the future, which cannot be permitted at any cost.
"China has to leave the Indian territory into which they have now moved and on which they have no right. The Indian armed forces were now much more modernised and equipped than they were back in 1962, and China can not afford to take us lightly," CM Singh warned.
Amid stand-off in Eastern Ladakh, officials of India and China interacted through video-conferencing on Friday with the two sides agreeing that they should handle "their differences through peaceful discussion" while respecting each other's sensitivities and concerns and not allowing them to become disputes in accordance with the guidance provided by the leadership.
Troops of two countries are in a stand-off with India stating that the Chinese side that has undertaken activity hindering India's normal patrolling patterns. India has also said that its troops fully abide by the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border.
( With inputs from ANI )