Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday questioned the prime minister’s silence on the “intrusion of foreign troops” and said it was worrying for the country.

He said the nation is waiting for an official statement from the Ministry of Defence or Army headquarters. “Will it come tonight?”

“The PM has maintained a worrying silence since May 5. Can you imagine any other Head of Government not saying a word for 7 weeks since the intrusion of foreign troops into a country,” the former Union minister asked on Twitter.

He said one has seen the official statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs that says nothing new after the news broke out at 12.52 pm on Tuesday, thanks to an Army WhatsApp group.

“Admittedly, Indian lives have been lost. Who are the brave men who have made the supreme sacrifice? Is one of them a Tamil/Indian from Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu,” Chidamabarm also asked.

An Indian Army colonel and two soldiers were killed during a violent clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night — the first such incident involving fatalities in the last 45 years and signalling a massive escalation in the five-week border row in the sensitive region.