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The Congress launched an all-out attack against the Narendra Modi government over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement on Thursday in Parliament on the status at the Ladakh border with China. The Opposition party alleged that the Prime Minister has ceded Indian territory to the Chinese.
Senior leader Rahul Gandhi said it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to protect the territory of the country. “It is his responsibility to solve the problem,” Gandhi told reporters here on Friday. The Centre’s position at the beginning of the issue at the borders was status quo ante on April, 2020.
“Now sheepishly, the Defence Minister comes and makes a statement and we find that Indian troops are now going to be stationed at Finger-3. Finger-4 is our territory, that is where our post used to be. So, now we have moved from finger-4 to finger-3. Why has the Prime Minister Modi given up Indian territory to the Chinese? This is the question that needs to be answered by him and by the Defence Minister,” Gandhi said.
‘Real questions’
He asked why the Centre asked the forces to move back. “What has India got in return for this? And most importantly, the more important strategic area, Depsang Plains, why have the Chinese not moved back, these are the real questions. Why have they not withdrawn from Gogra and Hot Springs. It is a very clear thing that has happened; the Prime Minister of India has given Indian Territory to China,” he claimed.
Gandhi said the Chinese were in Depsang and Pangong. “Our soldiers risked everything they had, to go to Kailash ranges. That’s where the strategic advantage, if any, arose. Now, the Prime Minister has given back the land. Status quo ante is irrelevant. Kailash has been given back and nothing has happened on the key area of which China wants, Depsang plains. This is absolute 100 per cent cowardice. This is nothing else. The Prime Minister is a coward who cannot stand up to the Chinese, that is the fact and he is spitting on the sacrifice of our army. That is what he is doing. He is betraying the sacrifice of our army and nobody in India should be allowed to do it, nobody in the rest of the world should be allowed to do it,” Gandhi charged.
Rahul Gandhi repeated these allegations later at the Mahapanchayat of farmers in Rajasthan. He demanded Modi to make a statement than asking the Defence Minister to do so.