People who attack the Army will never be acceptable to India: Arun Jaitley

Delhi: Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley made it clear on Wednesday that those who target the Army and eulogise people who attack India, have no acceptability in the country.

In a exclusive interview to Zee Media he said, "People who believe in extreme ideology are not ashamed of the fact that they raise slogans about breaking the country into small parts. Some eulogise those who attack the county like Burhan Wani. They attack the Army. I think this philosophy has no acceptability in the county."

Jaitley added, "At least, it will never be acceptable by us and the kind of political ideology that we (BJP) believe in."

On the standoff between Indian troops and Chinese Army along the Sino-India border, he maintained, "These are consequences of unsettled border. Earlier also these incidents have happened. Skirmishes happen. But no bullet is fired. After sometime, slowly, the standoffs finish. I hope that this standoff will over get over soon."

The Defence Minister's remarks comes amid tension between the two Armies along the border in Sikkim following a scuffle between Indian troops and the personnel of China's People's Liberation Army in a remote area earlier this month.

The genesis of the latest face-off is understood to have had a link to Donglang, a narrow but strategically important tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

China has accused Indian troops of "crossing the boundary" in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal, while asserting that it has shut down the Nathu La pass entry for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar because of the border standoff.

China also said that it has lodged diplomatic protests with India, both in New Delhi and Beijing, alleging that the Indian troops trespassed into Chinese territory in the Sikkim sector, as per PTI.

The Indian Army has not commented on the face-off.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said on Monday that recently China has begun the construction of a road in Donglang region, but was stopped by Indian troops crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

(With PTI inputs)