Shirom Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday hit back at the Congress President Sonia Gandhi at an all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for questioning the government over its handling of "intrusions" by China in Eastern Ladakh and said this is the time to send the "message to China that we are with the Prime Minister."
"Not the right time to question the handling of the situation. India is with the PM. Let's give the message to China that we are with the PM," said Badal as per the sources.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an all-party virtual meeting to discuss the situation in India-China border areas.
The leaders who took part in the meeting include Congress President Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP chief JP Nadda.
The Prime Minister and leaders also paid tributes to soldiers who lost their lives in the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.
Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off which happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.
Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.
( With inputs from ANI )