On Tawang face-off, Bhupesh Baghel's ‘laal aankh’ advice to Modi government
Bhupesh Baghel also said it's the government of India which has to hold diplomatic and political talks. “The question is why (central government) is silent,” Baghel said.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday hit out at the government for not holding a discussion in Parliament on the India-China border issue and said India has to show “laal aankh” to Beijing if Chinese troops try to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about showing "laal aankh" (angry eyes) to the Chinese over repeated transgressions at the border and spoken about the might of a “56-inch chest”.
“China is continuously encroaching on our borders. The Congress and our leader Rahul Gandhi are raising this issue continuously. If Mallikarjun Kharge is holding a meeting of opposition leaders, then it is a very serious matter,” new agency ANI quoted Baghel as saying.
“It is not only a matter of Pakistan, if other countries are also doing this, then we've to show 'lal aankh'. The government is not even able to register its objection. The Indian Army is one of the best in the world and no one can question their bravery,” Baghel added.
The Chhattisgarh chief minister also said it's the government of India which has to hold diplomatic and political talks. “The question is why (central government) is silent,” Baghel said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also slammed the Centre for not holding a discussion in Parliament over the issue, and said giving out a "small statement" without any clarification is not democratic.
Tharoor's remarks came a day after defence minister Rajnath Singh, in a statement to Parliament, said Chinese troops tried to "unilaterally" change the status quo along the LAC in the Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector on December 9, but the Indian Army compelled them to retreat with its "firm and resolute" response.
The Congress has been demanding a discussion on the border issue and accusing the government of hiding the truth.
"We have been saying for some time now that this is what Parliament is for, it is a forum for the government to be accountable to the people of India on a matter like this where for five years Chinese have been nibbling at our LAC, starting with Doklam in 2017 and going on till what happened on December 9 in Tawang and the incidents in Galway, Depsang, Hot Springs and so on," Tharoor said.
Ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy weaponry.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)
