Sikkim stand-off with China: Govt calls all-party meeting; Sushma, Rajnath to brief Opposition

Amid ongoing border stand-off with China, the government has called an all-party meeting to apprise the entire Opposition on the issue.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will brief Opposition leaders on Friday.

"Invitations have been extended to the Parliamentary leaders of all major Opposition parties from Congress to JD(U) to Trinamool to Left," reported CNN-News18.

The development comes a few days after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi launched an attack on Narendra Modi asking why the Prime Minister was silent on Beijing, and met Chinese envoy.

The Congress and other Opposition parties had been questioning the 'silence' of the prime minister on Chinese aggression along the border and has asked the government to spell out its strategy to ease the tension in Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for over three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.

Two days ago, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said India and China have handled border issues in the past and there is no reason the two countries will not be able to handle them this time.

"It is a long border, as you know no part of the border has been agreed upon on the ground. It is likely that from time to time there are differences," Jaishankar said.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

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