New Delhi: In a huge claim regarding the occupation of land in Ladakh by Chinese troops, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the Chinese troops had occupied land the size of Delhi and blamed PM Modi for it.
“Well, if you call having Chinese troops in 4,000 square kilometres of our territory handling something well, then maybe we’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh,” Gandhi said while speaking at the National Press Club in Washington DC.
He went on to call India’s handling of the situation a “disaster”. Claiming that the media does not question the government on the same, Gandhi asked: “How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 sq kms of your territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying that he’s handled that well?”
Rahul Gandhi also seized this opportunity to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “So I don’t think PM Modi handled China well at all. I see no reason why Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory,” Gandhi said.
Notably, last year, Rahul Gandhi accused PM Modi of lying to the opposition over the Indo-China border situation in Ladakh. He also repeated his claim that China has snatched Indian territory.
Modi told leaders of all political parties that neither has anyone entered nor is anyone present in Indian territory. The Prime Minister also told the leaders that no Indian post was captured.
Earlier this year, the Congress accused the Modi government of giving a “clean chit” to China and asserted that the encroachment will be halted decisively when the party comes to power. At the time, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that the Prime Minister and Home Minister are denying that China has occupied around 2,000 sq km of Indian territory.
He further said the Chinese have taken over 26 out of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh, while adding that China has built complete villages 50-60 km deep inside Arunachal Pradesh. Ramesh said that this fact was confirmed by satellite imagery and the issue was also raised by BJP MP Tapir Gao in the Lok Sabha.
The statement came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that China could not encroach upon a “single inch” of land under the Modi dispensation. He also claimed that people will never forget how former PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said “bye-bye” to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh during the 1962 Indo-China war
