New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Modi government, alleging that it first handed over its land to China and is now putting the country’s neighbors in danger by not pushing Beijing back.
He quoted a news report on Twitter saying that China is now building illegal villages in Bhutan. If you don’t stand up for yourself, how will you stand up for your friends.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “The Modi government first surrendered our land and has now put our close neighbors in danger with their inaction in pushing back China. If you won’t stand up for yourself, how will you stand up for your friends.
Rahul Gandhi has been highly critical of the Modi government’s handling of China and regularly shares his views on the India-China border standoff.
According to reports, China is building villages in the disputed region in Bhutan, less than 30 km from the trijunction Doklam plateau, which was in the news in 2017, when the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were involved in 70 were locked in a bitter standoff for more than days.
The villages are likely to be used by China for both military and civilian purposes. According to images released by American data analytics firm Hawkeye 360, construction-related activity has been going on in some places along Bhutan’s western border since early 2020.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has defended the construction, saying it is purely to improve the working and living conditions of the local people. “It is within the sovereignty of China to carry out normal construction activities in its territory,” the ministry said.
Boundary talks between China and Bhutan began in 1984 and in October 2021 the two countries signed an agreement on a three-stage roadmap to resolve their border disputes.
first published:Jan. 15, 2022, 7:05 a.m.
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