Centre should change its policy to allow soldiers to open fire in their defence: Punjab CM

A day after the all-party meeting at which all national political parties extended support to the Government of India on the Galwan Valley clash issue, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged the Centre to change its policy to allow soldiers at the borders to open fire in their own defence and for protecting the nation's territorial integrity.

In his 7th edition of #AskCaptain of Facebook Live, CM Captain said, "Government of India policy should be that if they kill one of ours, we should kill 5 of theirs.

"It was absolutely wrong to send soldiers unarmed or not to allow them to defend themselves, he said, adding that when he and his Army colleagues used to go patrolling, during his posting along the LAC for two years, they carried all kinds of weapons," said a release.

Besides increasing the compensation for their next of kin from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, his government has decided to name schools after the martyrs, said Captain Amarinder.

Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off in Galwan Valley on June 15-16. It 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 )