Come clean on relationship with China, BJP retorts Congress after Rahul's 'China has taken India's land' remark

Shortly after Rahul Gandhi said in Kargil that “China has taken India’s land” and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that not an inch of land was taken away was absolutely false, the BJP on Friday hit out at the Congress saying that the grand old party should first come clean on its relationship with Beijing.

#WATCH | Delhi: BJP MP Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi says, "We want to clear their (Congress Govt) relationship with China and our relationship with China. After our Govt came under the leadership of PM Modi, in 2020, a think tank from Beijing said that 'China is passing through its worst… pic.twitter.com/FUzlwN4oMt

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2023

“We want to clear their (Congress govt) relationship with China and our relationship with China. After our government came under the leadership of PM Modi, in 2020, a think tank from Beijing said that China is passing through its worst diplomatic isolation post-Tiananmen Square…I dont understand, why time and again Congress MP Rahul Gandhi showers love on the talks by China…During Doklam, the food he had with the Chinese Ambassador was not revealed by him but by a photo shared by China,” said BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi while addressing a press conference on Friday. The exchange of barbs comes a day after PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a brief conversation at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. The conversation was not a structured bilateral meeting and was an informal one. On relations with Pakistan, Trivedi said that Congress’ policy has always been that peace talks will not be affected by terrorism but the BJP is absolutely against this arrangement. “Your (Congress) policy was that peace talks will not be affected by terrorism (between India and Pakistan) but our policy is that peace talks and terrorism can’t go hand in hand…Therefore, they (Congress) should not lecture us on peace and security at least,” said the BJP MP.

#WATCH | Delhi: BJP MP Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi says, "Your (Congress) policy was that peace talks will not be affected by terrorism (Between India and Pakistan) but our policy is that peace talks and terrorism can't go hand in hand...Therefore, they (Congress) should not lecture us… pic.twitter.com/nmHkHVwWer

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2023

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While addressing a public meeting in Kargil on the last day of his nine-day tour of Ladakh, Gandhi said that one thing was clear that China had taken over thousands of kilometers of Indian land. “I visited the whole of Ladakh on my motorcycle over the past week…Ladakh is a strategic place and when I was at Pangong lake, one thing was clear that China had taken over thousands of kilometers of Indian land. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister during an opposition meeting makes a statement that not an inch of our land was taken away which is ‘absolutely false’,” he said.

#WATCH | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Kargil, Ladakh says, "...Ladakh is a strategic location...One thing is very clear China has taken away India's land...It is sad that the PM in the opposition meeting said that not even an inch of Ladakh has been taken by China. This is a… pic.twitter.com/4oKeDZZAEv

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2023

He claimed that every individual of Ladakh knows that China has taken away our land and the Prime Minister is not speaking the truth. This is the second time during his Ladakh tour that the Congress leader has raked up the border issue with China. On Sunday, Gandhi had claimed that Modi’s statement that not an inch of the land in Ladakh has been taken over by China is not true. India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Thursday said Modi conveyed to Xi India’s concerns on the “unresolved” issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, underlining that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for normalisation of India-China ties. The ties between India and China came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh border row that began in May, 2020. During the public meeting, Gandhi also extending support to Leh-based Apex body and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which are fighting for full statehood and safeguards under sixth schedule of the Constitution, and said his party would not allow the BJP to hand over the resource-rich land of the union territory to its corporate friend. The former Congress president said he was briefed by the people about their demand for political representation, safeguards for land, culture and language, unemployment, non-functional Kargil airport and the problem of cell phone coverage. “I heard you and want to convey that the Congress is standing with you in your struggle, whether linked to the demand for safeguards or employment issues. All the people know that Ladakh is rich in natural resources. The 21st century is of solar energy and Ladakh has no dearth of it,” he said. “The BJP knows and understands that if you will be given (political) representation, they cannot snatch your land,” he said and alleged that the “BJP wants to take your land for (industrialist Gautam) Adani and we will not allow this to happen”. The two powerful bodies are jointly campaigning to press for their four-point demands, including full statehood, safeguards under sixth schedule of the Constitution, creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil districts, recruitment and job reservation for the youth of Ladakh. With inputs from agencies