New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS): A day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a detailed statement on the LAC and said China had occupied 38,000 sq km of Indian territory illegally, the Congress has alleged that government is not speaking in one voice. Two revelations expose the lies, double-speak, hoodwinking and hypocrisy of the Narendra Modi-led government on the issue of the ongoing border tensions with China on the eastern border in area such as South Pangong, Razun La and the finger area, says the Opposition party.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Naseer Hussain and Spokesperson Pawan Khera, jointly addressing a press conference,said,"The shocker comes in the form of an answer by MOS in the Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to an unstarred question, in which the honourable minister categorically denies any infiltration by China during the last six months. This is a shameless insult to the martyrdom of our brave soldiers on the night of June 15 in the Galwan valley."
The party questioned whether the government was trying to say that the Galwan clash happened in the Chinese territory? By saying so, is the government blaming the Indian army of trespassing into the enemy territory?
The Congress alleged that the government has accepted in the House that India took two loans amounting to Rs 9,202 crore from a Beijing-based multilateral development bank called the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The second loan of $750 million was taken on June 19; just four days after the Galwan massacre where India lost 20 bravehearts. Incidentally, it was also the same day when Prime Minister Modi said that no one had entered our territory.
The party asked External affairs Minister S. Jaishankar whether he still stands by his statement where he said that "There cannot be business as usual in the face of Chinese attempts to unilaterally changing the facts on the ground along the border".
"The nation is shocked at such brazen duplicity of the Modi government in handling China's territorial aggression," said Khera
The Congress said the government must come clean on the "factual situation on the eastern border. A clear message should go across the world that India and its government stand with the Indian army wand will not legitimise China's claims over our territory," added the party.