Ladakh face-off | Congress questions Centre on ‘new’ provocation by China

It says India’s armed forces could give a fitting reply to China but ‘the Modi government lacked strong political will’

Cong. leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The Congress on Thursday said satellite imagery clearly showed China making ‘grave and new’ provocation by building fresh structures in the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Lake area, and asked the government to spell out it plans to deal with the situation.

The Congress demanded a virtual session of Parliament to discuss important issues, especially the border stand-off with China. It said India’s armed forces could give a fitting reply to China but ‘the Modi government lacked strong political will’.

Separately, in a series of tweets, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram termed China’s claim to the entire Galwan Valley an ‘extraordinary demand’. He said people were watching if the Modi government succeeded in restoring status quo ante.

Several Congress leaders have been talking of adopting a tough approach on the issue. Its Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked Indian forces to push back China as its arsenals were not meant for hatching eggs.

“Foreign Ministry and PLA [People Liberation Army] of China once again assert their claim to the entire Galwan Valley and demand that India should vacate the Valley. Extraordinary demand! Will BJP-led NDA government once again reassert India’s claim and demand that “status quo ante” must be restored ?” said Mr. Chidambaram in a tweet.

“Contrary to what the PM said, it is undeniable that the status quo was changed by Chinese troops in April-June 2020. People are watching if the Modi government will succeed in restoring the status quo ante,” he stated in another tweet.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a virtual press conference, “The Chinese have made fresh transgressions on patrol point 14 of Galwan Valley, where 20 of our soldiers, including Colonel B Santosh Babu, laid down their lives. What does the government have to say about it? Satellite images, expert opinions and news reports say China has made fresh transgressions in the area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 near Pangon Tso. If true, this is a new and grave provocation. What does the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister have to say about it?”.

Mr. Chowdhury said that in spite of all efforts to defuse the tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), China was hell bent upon altering the status quo.

‘Catch-22 situation’

“It is a catch-22 situation for us, but we cannot afford ourselves to be cowed down by the red army. They are to be repulsed back by whatever means, our arsenals are not meant for hatching eggs, so strike back, drive back, force back the Chinese aggression, God will be Indian in deciding the course of conflict”, Mr. Chowdhury said in a tweet.

As the Congress and the BJP stepped up attack against each other over the Chinese incursions, with the BJP accusing the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation of accepting donation from China, Mr. Surjewala said, “Please stop living in 2005 and start answering questions in 2020”