India China border issue: Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi for his “56-inch chest” remark.
New Delhi:
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the country’s national security has been “unduely compromised” as the government has no strategy on China.
He cited a news report where the Ministry of External Affairs and Chief of Defense Staff had a different stand on China border issue,
Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat said on Thursday that the dispute over Chinese coming into Indian territory and creating a new village is “not true”, and that the villages were well within the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control. LAC).
He also said that China has not violated the Indian “perception” of the LAC.
In its recent report, the US Defense Department said that China has built a large village inside the disputed area on the eastern side of the LAC between its Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh.
Earlier in an official response to the US report, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India has neither accepted China’s “illegal occupation of its territory nor any unreasonable Chinese claims”.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “56-inch chest” remark, Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter, “Our national security has been unjustifiably compromised as the Indian government has no strategy and Mr. 56” scared.
He further alleged, “My condolences are with the soldiers risking their lives to protect our borders while the Indian government is churning out lies.”
Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi had said that a 56-inch chest is needed to turn Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat in terms of development.
Attacking the government over the issue, Congress leader P Chidambaram said it was time Defense Minister Rajnath Singh drew a line in his ministry and asked the CDS to be “well on its side of the LAC”.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that China is in “illegal occupation” of Indian territory and India will not accept “unjustified Chinese claims”.
“Within hours, the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) said the Chinese have ‘nowhere in violation of our perception of the LAC’ and they are ‘well on their side of the LAC’,” Mr Chidambaram tweeted in a series of tweets. said in. ,
The former Union Finance Minister also said that from the Plenum to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, the Chinese are laughing in every way.
“It is time for the Defense Minister to draw a LAC in the Defense Ministry and ask the CDS to be on his side of the LAC,” the Congress leader said.
Last month, India and China failed to make any progress in resolving the 18-month standoff in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh during the 13th round of military talks between the two countries.
Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive area of eastern Ladakh.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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