IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2020
WASHINGTON - Congressman George Holding (NC-02) - co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans - released the following statement.
“On behalf of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans, my Co-Chair Brad Sherman and I expressed our condolences to Ambassador Sandhu for the lives lost at the Line of Actual Control in the Galwan Valley.”
Below is the text of letter that was sent today to Ambassador Sandhu:
“As members of the Caucus on India and Indian Americans, we are extremely disappointed by the events that took place at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley area on Monday, June 15th.”
“Over the last few months, the Chinese authorities have been acting with impunity and have attempted to transgress on the LAC, which resulted in diplomatic discussions to implement a process for de-escalation along the LAC on June 6th. Only nine days after the agreement, the Chinese attempted to build new infrastructure on the Indian side of the LAC. Dissatisfied with your government’s response, the Chinese troops disregarded the recently implemented disengagement process and erupted in premeditated violence, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.”
“We offer our condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers. We are disappointed that China has been acting in contradiction to their agreements with India, in their attempt to change the status quo and challenge Indian troops at the border. It is my hope that they scale back on their excessive weaponry and infrastructure at the Line of Actual Control and uphold both their longstanding and new founded agreements with India.”
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