Jammu June 16 (KNS): While terming de-escalation as key to ending India-China standoff in eastern Ladakh, National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana today asserted that the integrity and sovereignty of the country cannot be compromised.

“Nation remains first and above politics”, Rana told reporters when asked to react over the reports of three valiant soldiers including an officer getting martyred in Galwan in eastern Ladakh.

In a statement issued to KNS, the Provincial President said the nation of nearly 1.3 billion was united at this hour of hostility on the Line of Actual Control and fully confident over the capabilities and valour of its armed forces. The intermittent incursions and skirmishes cannot weaken the resolve of Indians to safeguard their national pride and territorial integrity. For this, every Indian was standing behind its soldiers to meet any challenge to the national pride and integrity, he maintained.

Rana said this was not the time to play politics but an occasion to demonstrate the will of the nation to foil and fight any misadventure against the motherland. Though peace remains core of Indian ethos yet nobody should make a mistake of taking it as a weakness, he added.

The Provincial President described the reports of conflict at Galwan, which led to the martyrdom of three soldiers including an officer, as most disturbing and unfortunate. He paid tributes to the three martyrs. He said the nation stands behind the families of these martyrs at this hour of grief and salutes their martyrdom.

“May we emerge victorious from the obtaining situation on the Line of Actual Control with utmost dignity”, Rana said, adding that the nation is united and determined to defend its territorial integrity and national pride.

The Provincial President prayed for peace to the departed martyrs and expressed solidarity with their families. He also prayed for the safety of the people of the Ladakh region. (KNS)