Rahul Gandhi still living in 1962, says Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Congress leader's China-Pakistan comments

Asserting the defence forces were strong and capable of protecting India in any situation, Anurag Thakur said, "It is true that for 10 years during the Congress rule, soldiers did not get snow boots and suits, bullet proof jackets or fighter planes."

Union Minister Anurag Thakur. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on December 26 slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remark that China and Pakistan could attack India jointly by saying the latter was probably still living in 1962. India had suffered reverses in a border war with China in 1962.

During an interaction with ex-servicemen, which he shared on his YouTube channel on Sunday, Mr. Gandhi had also said India is "extremely vulnerable" and must act now or else it will suffer a "huge setback".

Queried on this statement, Mr. Thakur said, "Rahul Gandhi is probably still living in the era of 1962. I would like to tell Rahul you should not indulge in humiliating the Indian Army time and again. Has the Congress decided to bring down the morale of the Indian Army by insulting the Indian Army again and again? Or does Rahul Gandhi have no faith in the Indian Army?” Mr. Thakur said Indian soldiers had successfully carried out surgical strikes to hit at the root of terror and also given a befitting reply to aggression in Doklam.

Asserting the defence forces were strong and capable of protecting India in any situation, Mr. Thakur said people still want to know what Mr. Gandhi was "drinking, eating or talking with the Chinese officials at that time".

"It is true for 10 years during the Congress rule, soldiers did not get snow boots and suits, bullet proof jackets or fighter planes," the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting alleged.

During his interaction with ex-servicemen on Sunday, Mr. Gandhi had said the clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Galwan and Doklam were linked and were part of that country's strategy to hit India together with Pakistan.

"China and Pakistan have become one and if a war breaks out, it will not just be with one, but with both. The country will suffer a huge setback. India is now extremely vulnerable," Mr. Gandhi had said in the five-minute video.