Mumbai. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that while commenting on China, the Congress holds Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the mistakes made by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and pretends that he has no fault. Regarding Chinese encroachment in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, Jaishankar said that China had occupied Indian land in 1958 and 1962 and some had been occupied before 1958.
Taking aim at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Jaishankar said that it is very sad to demoralize your own security forces. In response to a question at a press conference here, he said, “When you keep saying that China took the land, that land was lost in 1962 itself. I see that efforts are being made to mislead the country.”
Relations between China and India have been strained, especially after the Galwan Valley incident in June 2020, when Chinese and Indian troops clashed, resulting in casualties on both sides. Since then, India-China relations are in an ‘abnormal situation’ and both sides have deployed their troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The External Affairs Minister said that people are saying that the Chinese are building villages on the border, but this is happening in Longju (on the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh), which was attacked and captured by China in 1959. Jaishankar said, “If you look at Google Map, please look at that village and understand it in line with Nehru’s speech in Parliament in 1959.”
The External Affairs Minister said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his party talk about China building a bridge in Pangong Tso in Ladakh, but the bridge is being built at the place where the Chinese came in 1958 and captured it again in 1962. Had done. The Foreign Minister said that a Congress spokesperson had recently said that the Chinese people have constructed a road in Shaksgam village.
Jaishankar said, “Probably this created concerns for Siachen. Shaksgam Valley was allowed by Nehru to become a part of POK and the Pakistanis handed it over to China in 1963. “The Congress party is holding Modi responsible for the actions of Nehru in 1949 and the actions of (then Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto in 1963 and they actually make it seem as if they (Congress) have no accountability.”
The Foreign Minister acknowledged that there is a challenge from China, which has violated bilateral agreements and sent a large number of troops to the border. Jaishankar said that, however, everyone should be proud of the fact that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, India responded and sent a record number of troops to the border. He said that today those soldiers are deployed at very high altitude, in extreme cold and are protecting the country in very difficult conditions.
Jaishankar said, “So when I hear Rahul Gandhi saying that our soldiers were beaten in the Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh (in 2022), whereas in reality we had driven away the Chinese. It is a very sad thing to demoralize our own system, our own security forces.”
Tags: China, Congress, Rahul Gandhi, S Jaishankar
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 13, 2024, 18:46 IST