New Delhi: Congress has accused the BJP of treating Chinese movements across the Arunachal Pradesh border as normal, after Chief Minister Pema Khandu said such incidents have happened before and are not new, PTI reported.
Khandu said the situation along the border was currently peaceful and that Indian soldiers were guarding it well. He said there was “no matter of tension” at present.
He explained that China does not accept the McMahon Line near Arunachal Pradesh. He also said Arunachal shares a border of nearly 1,200 km with Tibet-China.
“Transgression has happened, no doubt. But it keeps happening; it is not a new thing. Because there is no line demarcation at the border, it is not defined,” Khandu said.
Congress Slams BJP
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised this statement. He said Khandu had earlier denied reports of Chinese incursions near Taksing, but was now admitting that crossings had taken place.
“So much for the PM’s ‘na koi ghusa hai’. Worse, he treats it as normal: ‘It keeps happening. It is nothing new.’ ‘The situation is quite normal now.’ ‘Our soldiers go (to) that side, their patrolling parties also come (to) this side sometimes,’” Ramesh said on X.
Ramesh said Khandu made these comments just a week after the ITBP chief confirmed that Indian and Chinese troops had faced off at several places in Arunachal Pradesh.
“The CM said this a week after the ITBP Director General confirmed face-offs at several locations in Arunachal. Some are still ongoing,” Ramesh said.
He said the chief minister was wrongly blaming the lack of a clearly marked border instead of strongly opposing China’s actions.
“Instead of asserting India’s position, BJP leaders are rationalising Chinese actions,” Ramesh said. “Nothing about this is normal. This is the new abnormal. Corps Commander talks had to be held at Wacha-Damai in September 2026 after the Taksing face-off.”
Ramesh also claimed that local people had seen Chinese army camps on the Indian side and that some patrolling points had been lost. He mentioned China renaming Indian towns and building a large 60,000-MW dam at the Great Bend.
“Yet the self-anointed Vishwaguru rolls out the red carpet for Chinese capital, even as a record USD 112.6 billion trade deficit crushes our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). ‘Make in India’ has become ‘Import from China’,” he said.
“The issue is no longer just Chinese transgressions. It is the BJP’s growing tendency to treat them as normal,” Ramesh added.
He also claimed that Khandu was saying what Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted him to say. Ramesh referred to a Supreme Court order from April 6, 2026, which asked for a CBI inquiry into decisions Khandu took as PWD Minister between 2015 and 2025.
The row began after ITBP Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said last week that Indian and Chinese troops had faced confrontations at several places along the Arunachal border.
Khandu spoke to reporters shortly before the opening of the 14th International Tourism Mart, which was attended by Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and other leaders. He said he had learnt about the issue from news reports and that it was being discussed widely.
Congress has also accused Modi and his government of staying silent while making concessions to China. The government has rejected Congress’s allegations, while the BJP has said the opposition is demoralising Indian soldiers.