India wants peace, friendship but upholding sovereignty: Modi

(Karachi) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India wants peace and friendship, but upholding sovereignty is foremost.

Addressing the all party meeting in New Delhi on Friday, he claimed that neither the Chinese intruded into their border, nor has any post been taken over by them. Modi accepted that 20 Indian soldiers were killed during clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh.

He said that the Indian Army has been given adequate power to take appropriate action on the border. He threatened, "We possess the capability that no one can eye even one inch of our land. India's armed forces have the capability to move into multiple sectors at one go."

The statement by Narendra Modi comes days after clashes erupted between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh in which at least 20 Indian troops, including a Colonel, were killed while 45 were captured.

There were also reports that 35 Indian soldiers also suffered injuries. Besides, 25 of the captured troops were later released by Chinese military.

On the following day, China released 10 more Indian troops after several rounds of talks between the two sides in a bid to ease tensions.

Indian media reported that an agreement on the release of soldiers was reached at major general-level talks between the Indian army and China’s People’s Liberation Army.

India and China have blamed each other for the most serious fighting in more than 50 years along their bitterly contested Himalayas border, where they fought a war in 1962.