Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday again hit out at the government over its handling of the border issue with China, claiming that India will have to pay a "huge price". In a tweet, he alleged that the government was behaving like a "Chamberlain", opining that this would "further embolden China".
"China has taken our land and GOI is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China. India is going to pay a huge price because of GOI’s cowardly actions," he tweeted, sharing a video clip of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Speaking in Ladakh on Friday, Singh had said that progress has been made in talks with China for a solution to the border standoff in Ladakh. He had however added that he could not guarantee to what extent it would be resolved. The Defence Minister had warned that no power in the world can touch an inch of the country's land.
Singh who is on a two day visit to the area had also reviewed the overall security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir with the top military brass on Friday. Reportedly, he had asked the armed forces to give a fitting reply to any "misadventure" by Pakistan.
At a high-level meeting, the defence minister had also asked the armed forces to maintain a strict vigil along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.
Fellow Congress leader, P Chidambaram however had criticised Singh's comments, dismissing it as mere rhetoric."Indian security agencies have assessed that Chinese troops are still upto 1.5 kms on the Indian side of the LAC (according to India’s perception). In May, Chinese troops had intruded upto 5 kms on our side of the LAC," he had tweeted on Saturday morning.
According to Chidambaram, all the talk about nobody having intruded on Indian territory was "empty rhetoric".
"Defence Minister’s statement that 'no one can touch an inch of India’s territory' is just more rhetoric," he alleged.
"As long as the Govt does not acknowledge the reality, the status quo ante will be an elusive goal," he warned.
(With inputs from agencies)
