Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah on Monday expressed concern over reports of China taking substantial portion of land in Ladakh and urged the Central government to take up the matter with Beijing at the earliest.
Calling for sorting out the boundary dispute with China, Dr. Abdullah said Centre should not waste any time in taking up the issue with China and get it sorted out. “This seems to be happening for the last 25 years. One cannot be absolved of the responsibility by just merely saying that the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has not been demarcated,” he said.
“Now this boundary dispute cannot hang in balance for eternity. The earlier the better,” Dr. Abdullah remarked on the sidelines of the conference to launch the National Solar Mission here.
Asked whether he had come to know about the Chinese incursions during his tenure as Chief Minister, he said this has started coming out in the public domain only in the later part of last year.
BJP’s plea
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata party asked the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to clarify the truth about the incursions by China along LAC. “The government had denied such incursions by China in Arunachal Pradesh and now the same thing is happening in Ladakh. It is most shocking that reports are coming from the Commissioner of Leh about Chinese moving inwards into Indian territory over the last 20 to 25 years. This is very disturbing and the government should come out clear on the issue,” BJP spokesman, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, told journalists here.
Mr. Rudy further said a few Parliament questions were asked from the government during the just concluded Winter session of Parliament about such incursions. However, the government had denied the same and now official reports about such incursions are coming. What does the Government have to say on this now? Mr. Rudy asked.
