 "Sikkim standoff: Rahul Gandhi lashes out at Narendra Modi, questions prime minister's silence on China")
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre on the treatment of the border confrontation between India and China in Sikkim, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue.
This was also not the first time Gandhi launched a social media tirade against the prime minister. He took to Twitter again on Wednesday to call Modi a “weak prime minister.”
[caption id=“attachment_3566725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File photo of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Gandhi attached two news reports relating to Modi’s recent visit to the United States. One report says that Modi did not raise the H1B visa issue during his talks with US president Donald Trump, while the other report speaks of India’s acceptance of the term “India-administered Kashmir” by the US State Department in its order designating Hizbul-Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist. Gandhi’ remarks came in the wake of a
face-off
with Chinese troops in Doka La, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan. Tensions from the
long-drawn
standoff have been rising as
Beijing stated
that Chinese president Xi Jinping will not be meeting Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit. India has currently pushed in more troops in a “non-combative mode” to strengthen its position in an area near Sikkim, where its soldiers have been locked in a standoff with Chinese troops for almost a month now in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962. The Congress party also expressed its
concerns
over rising infiltrations along the border with China. According to PTI, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that “unfortunately, it appears that this government has been caught napping” and has not been able to implement recent accords between the two countries signed by the UPA government, which has been violated. “National security under this government is going through very a turbulent time in different facets….When will this government take strong corrective measures on national security for national interest, with respect to our border situation? Any right thinking person and certainly a responsible Opposition would be alarmed and concerned as we are,” he added. Singhvi also said that Congress, however, stands solidly behind the government on issues of national security and on steps taken in the national interest to resolve the current stand-off with China. With inputs from agencies.