Rahul Gandhi doubles down on 'China occupied Indian land' claim, alleges PM's inaction

On Wednesday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi castigated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged silence on China amid the faceoff at the LAC. Repeating his claim that China has occupied 1200 sq.km of Indian land, the Wayanad MP accused the PM of deliberating hiding this information from the people. Terming it as the biggest issue facing the country at the moment, he questioned PM Modi on when he was planning to throw out the Chinese Army.

It is pertinent to note that the PM and his Cabinet colleagues have consistently maintained that China has not intruded into Indian territory. In a veiled dig at the Congress party, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently told Parliament that China is in the illegal occupation of 38,000 sq. km in Ladakh apart from 5,180 sq. km of Indian territory in PoK ceded by Pakistan in 1963. He made it clear that the LAC boundary issue remains unresolved due to China's reluctance to recognise the traditional and customary alignment of the border. 

Speaking to the media, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi remarked, "Did you hear him say anything on China? Have you heard him say the word China over the last couple of months? Why do you think he is not saying it? Because he doesn't want to take the attention of the people of this country to the fact that the Chinese have occupied our land. The Chinese have occupied 1200 sq.km of our territory. I asked the Prime Minister on when are you planning to remove the Chinese from our territory. Do you think there is any bigger issue than that issue right now? It is the biggest issue. PM doesn't have a word to say about it. It is a strange thing."

Read: After LAC Clashes, Relationship Between India-China 'profoundly Disturbed': EAM Jaishankar

LAC faceoff

The faceoff at the Line of Actual Control was exacerbated when 20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred in the Galwan Valley on June 15 when the de-escalation process was underway. This was followed by multiple attempts of provocation by the Chinese side at the end of August. Multiple rounds of Corps Commander-level and WMCC meetings have taken place between the two sides to resolve the crisis. In September, both Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met their respective Chinese counterparts in Moscow.

During the 7th round of Corps Commander-level talks held on October 12 at Chushul, the two sides tried to understand each other's positions on the disengagement of troops along the LAC. In the "constructive" meeting, India and China agreed to implement the consensus reached by their respective leaders. Moreover, there was also a consensus on maintaining dialogue through military and diplomatic channels in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution of disengagement at the earliest. 

Read: LAC Faceoff: Ahead Of 8th Round Of Talks, India Considers 'confidential' Proposal By China