Ladakh face-off: Mamata Banerjee welcomes Centre's decision to call all-party meet

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday welcomed the Centre's decision to call an all-party meeting on June 19 to discuss the situation on the India-China border in Ladakh and said her party stands by the country at this hour of crisis.

"We stand by the country and our armed forces at this hour of crisis and completely support the decision to call an all-party meeting. Technically, it is a correct decision," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said.

"We do not want to comment on issues relating to external affairs. Let the Union government decide on it," the chief minister said, when asked about the border standoff with China.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two neighbours.

(Photo Credit: PTI)