Rahul Gandhi Attacks Government’s China Policy, Cites CDS Bipin Rawat And MEA’s Different Stands On Row

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Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has in his latest jibe at the Modi government in a tweet has alleged that the country’s national security is “unpardonably compromised” as the government does not have a strategy on China.

He cited a news report where the External Affairs Ministry and the Chief of Defence Staff had a different take on the China border issue. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the controversy about the Chinese coming into the Indian territory and building a new village is “not true”, and that the villages were well within the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

He also asserted that China has not transgressed the Indian “perception” of the LAC. In its recent report, the US Department of Defence said China built a large village inside disputed territory between its Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern sector of the LAC.

Earlier in an official reaction to the US report, the External Affairs Ministry said India has neither accepted China’s “illegal occupation of its territory nor any unjustified Chinese claims”.

While taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “56-inch chest” remarks, Gandhi said on Twitter, “Our national security is unpardonably compromised because GOI has no strategy and Mr 56 is scared”.

“My thoughts are with the soldiers risking their lives to guard our borders while GOI churns out lies,” he said.