Rahul Gandhi making "false allegations" on India-China border: Rajnath Singh
Defence minister Rajnath Singh said that the words attributed to the army chief by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament on Monday were never spoken by him at any time
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of misquoting the army chief and making “false allegations” on the India-China border situation during a speech in Parliament the previous day and said that the leader of Opposition was indulging in “irresponsible politics on matters of national interest.”
“The PM has denied, but the army keeps on talking to the Chinese and the Chief of (Army) Staff has said the Chinese are inside our territory. People think wars are fought between armies and their weapons. But wars are fought between industrial systems. China has a far stronger industrial system,” Gandhi said in Lok Sabha on Monday, attempting to link the apparent failure of the Make in India programme to Chinese aggression at the border and alleging that Beijing’s belligerence was due to its larger and stronger industrial systems.
“The Army Chief’s remarks referred only to the disturbance of traditional patrolling by both sides. He also mentioned that these practices have been restored to their traditional pattern as part of the recent disengagement. The government has shared these details in Parliament,” Singh wrote on X.
The words attributed to the army chief by Gandhi were never spoken by him at any time, he stressed, accusing the Congress leader of “indulging in irresponsible politics on matters of national interest.”
“If at all there is Indian Territory into which China has come, this is 38,000 sq. km in Aksai Chin as a result of the 1962 conflict and 5,180 sq. km. illegally ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963. Shri Rahul Gandhi may consider introspecting about this phase of our history,” Singh wrote.
Gandhi’s comments came amid a thaw in bilateral ties between the two countries that have been locked in a stand-off for almost five years.
In the nearly 45-minute speech, Gandhi also presented an alternative vision of what the President’s address could have focused on – including expanding manufacturing and making young people a part of the technological and energy revolution -- rather than being a “laundry list” of government achievements. He also conceded that successive governments, be it of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), have not been able to tackle unemployment and give a clear-cut answer to the youth.
