PM Narendra Modi to chair all-party meet on LAC standoff at 5 pm; Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray among attendees

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an all-party meet on Friday to discuss the situation on the India-China border at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The meeting is scheduled to take place at 5 pm today. 

According to reports, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to top opposition leader and heads of all political parties and invited them to the all-party meet on China conflict, to be chaired by PM Modi today evening.

Among those who are expected to attend Friday's all-party meet are:

Congress president Sonia Gandhi
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan
Siromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal
TRS chief and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao
Biju Janata Dal President and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik
CPI-M Secretary General Sitaram Yechury
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar
YSR Congress president and Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy
JDU president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
DMK president MK Stalin
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee
BSP chief Mayawati

Reports stated that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been excluded from today's meeting. According to sources, a political party with more than 5 MP has been called for Friday’s meet. Since the AAP party has 4 MPs in parliament, so it has not been invited.

This is the first time since the eruption of border tensions in April that the PM has called for an all-party meeting to discuss the conflict. So far, his virtual meetings with opposition leaders have been on the coronavirus pandemic.

Significantly, the key Opposition party - Congress - has said that it stands with the government at a time like this.

The timing of the meeting is important because the ruling BJP government is under pressure from all political parties, especially the Congress, to issue a detailed statement over the issue. PM Modi’s call for the all-party meeting is also crucial as it points to the need for a political consensus on the border conflict with China.

Atleast 20 Indian Army personnel, including Colonel Santosh Baby, were killed in a violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15, the biggest military confrontation in over 5 decades that has escalated the already volatile border stand-off in the region.