Centre should hold all-party meet on China issue: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the Centre should convene an all-party meeting on border dispute with China.

"The Centre should convene an all-party meeting on border dispute with China as the issue is above politics in which the government should proceed further by evolving a consensus," Chouhan said in a statement last evening.

"The country needs to stand firm with self-respect. The Centre should show firmness in this and the entire country will stand behind them," he said.

Chouhan criticised the Centre for not taking steps to save Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Lahore yesterday following a brutal attack in Kot Lakhpat Jail where he was lodged.

"Everyone in India is sad that we could not save him. Effective steps on the part of the Union government were expected in this case, but the Centre failed to do so and this has created anger in the country," the Chief Minister said in a statement last evening.

In the case of Sarabjit also, the Centre did not try to mount international pressure on Pakistan, the Chief Minister said, adding, had the government taken effective steps in time, this situation would not have arisen.