London, Mar 5 (IANS): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a "denial mode" over Chinese incursions into Indian territory.

"We do not accept anybody entering our territory and bullying us. The Chinese have entered our territory and killed our soldiers but the PM is in denial. That's the problem," he said in an interaction with the Indian Journalists Association in London.

Claiming that 2,000 sq km of Indian territory is being controlled by China's PLA, Gandhi said that the PM himself has stated that not a single inch of Indian land has been taken and "this has destroyed our position to negotiate with Beijing".

The Congress leader also accused the BJP of twisting his statements to claim that he was defaming the country. "The BJP likes to twist my statements. I will never defame my country. The people of India felt disrespected when our PM went abroad and said that no work has been done in the country in the last 70 years of Independence," he said.

He also claimed that the opposition is functioning in hostile environment in India as it was no longer fighting a political party, but were "now fighting the institutional structure of India. We have to compete against the BJP-RSS which has captured all our independent institutions".

"There is suppression of voices across the country. The BJP wants India to to be silenced because it wants to hand over country's wealth to 4-5 people," he alleged.