JAIPUR/ NEW DELHI, 16 Dec: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and trying to ignore the threat.
He also alleged that China has taken away 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killed 20 Indian soldiers, and is “thrashing our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh.”
“I can see the threat of China very clearly. I have been clear on this for the last two-three years, but the government is trying to hide it and ignore it. This threat can neither be hidden nor ignored. Going by their full offensive preparation that is on in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the Indian government is asleep,” Gandhi told a press conference here.
“The government does not want to hear this but their (China’s) preparation is on. The preparation is for war. It is not for incursion, but for war. If you look at their weapon pattern, what they are doing – they are preparing for war. Our government hides this and is not able to accept it,” the former Congress chief said.
He said this is happening because the Narendra Modi government does event-based work and does not work strategically.
“They think in terms of event management but where geo-strategy is involved, event-based action does not work, power works there. I have said three-four times that we should be careful and understand what is happening. They keep making statements, I see the external affairs minister keeps making remarks, I should not say it, but he should deepen his understanding,” Gandhi said.
However, hitting back at Gandhi for his remarks, the BJP on Friday said that “he is trying to spread confusion and demoralise soldiers,” and added that “it is not Jawaharlal Nehru’s India of 1962.
“This is Modi’s India, this is new India. Now if anyone raises an eye against the country, he gets a befitting reply,” the BJP said.
BJP spokesman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, “Rahul Gandhi feels there should be proximity with China. Now he has developed so much proximity that he knows what China will do.”
“During his yatra, Rahul Gandhi has make comments about Indian security and border areas to spread confusion in the country and demoralise Indian soldiers. This is not India of his great grandfather Nehru, who lost 37,242 square kms to China while sleeping,” he told a press conference here, referring to the 1962 war between India and China.
He further said that Gandhi should not make irresponsible remarks about national security in a bid to “re-launch” himself.
“After Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather lost land to China,” Rathore said, “now he feels there should be proximity with China and he has developed so much proximity with China that he knows what China will do.” (PTI)
