Congress corners the government on China

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:28 am

The Congress party has been having a bitter war of words with the government over the stand-off in Galwan Valley, Ladakh and its handling of the crisis.

Ahead of the special Congress Working Committee, party president Rahul Gandhi tweeted a picture of Pangong Lake, clicked by his father Rajiv, asking if China has intruded into Indian territory. While COVID-19, the stimulus package and rising fuel prices were part of the discussions, China stole much of the focus because it’s the best platform on which to attack the government right now, especially since it has made itself so vulnerable with the Prime Minister’s comments last week.

Sonia Gandhi said that the PM was called out when he said that no one had intruded into Indian territory in Ladakh, indirectly admitting that the territory now in control of China is theirs. She said the people now know that the government mishandled the situation and there is a full-blown crisis. She hoped for mature diplomacy and decisive leadership to inform the government’s future actions on this.

Even the usually reticent former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh that the PM should be always mindful of the implications of his words. He said the government must ensure justice for the jawans killed in action. Rahul Gandhi said the PM betrayed the army by accepting Beijing’s position that it didn’t occupy Indian land and called out the total failure of foreign policy under the Modi government. He accused the government of not revealing the actual picture.

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The BJP is aware of the optics and was quick to defend the government in its own ways. They release a picture of Rahul Gandhi signing an MoU with the Chinese Communist Party. BJP President JP Nadda confronted Dr Manmohan Singh and the Congress party asking them not to insult the army. He claimed that 600 Chinese incursions took place during Dr Singh’s tenure. Under the party’s rule, land was generously conceded to China and Pakistan, he said. Congress leader P Chidambaram was quick to hit back saying there might have been incursions during Congress rule but no loss of life. Besides, there have been 2,264 Chineses incursions since 2015, he said. He quoted news reports talking of major build-up of Chinese military in Ladakh. Do these not point to occupations of Indian territory, he asked.