Parliament panel shelves Ladakh visit due to weather conditions

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has shelved plans to visit Ladakh to study the working condition of soldiers deployed in the high-altitude stand-off with China.

“The visit may now take place in April-May when the weather clears up,” a Parliament source said.

The committee was earlier planning to visit Ladakh on October 28-29 and had later put off the visit to November 7.

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The decision to shelve the plans was taken by Chowdhury after consultation with members as the Ministry of Defence advised the committee against the visit citing the stand-off with China, the ongoing efforts to defuse the tensions through talks at military and diplomatic levels and the sub-zero temperatures prevailing in the region.

Members of the parliamentary panel were keen to visit Leh to know the ground realities of the infrastructure and the clothing provided to armed forces posted at high-altitudes.

Parliamentary sources said some members in the panel were not in favour of the move to visit frontal areas at Leh due to the tough weather conditions and the visit would add additional pressure on the fully engaged forces there.

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Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat had agreed to receive members of the PAC at Ladakh during a meeting on October 7 following which the visit was tentatively planned for October 28 and 29. However, after requests from a section of the members, the visit was put-off for November 7.

In the meanwhile, the PAC chairman received a communication from the defence ministry, advising against the visit, on account of the prevailing situation where troops from both the sides are in “close proximity” in the high-altitude region.