Sharpening its attack, Congress on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “surrendering” to China and giving it a “clean chit” by asserting that there was no intrusion by Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley.
Firing a salvo at the government, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Prime Minister had “surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression”.
“If the land was Chinese, why were our soldiers killed? Where were they killed,” he asked.
Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Modi’s remarks at the all party meeting that there was no intrusion inside Indian territory in eastern Ladakh had left everyone “baffled and bewildered”.
“Has PM given a clean chit to China,” he asked a day after Modi’s ‘no intrusion; remarks triggered a controversy.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday said “some quarters” had attempted to give a “mischievous interpretation” to Modi’s remarks.
Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala also rejected the clarification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office as “clearly a lame attempt to obfuscate the truth.”
“Why is Government not coming forward and strongly rebutting the Chinese claim over Galwan Valley? If Chinese troops are present there, does it not amount to intrusion into and occupation of Indian territory,” he asked.
Chidambaram said if there was no Chinese intrusion why was there a fight between the troops on June 15 and why did India lose 20 of its soldiers.
“… what did the Corps Commanders talk about on June 6? Was it about the weather,” the former union minister said.
At the all party meeting on Friday, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked some tough questions of the government demanding to know whether an intelligence failure had led to the Chinese intrusion.
“When did the government find out the Chinese transgressions into our territory? Was it on May 5, as reported, or earlier? Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country,” she had asked.
However, Congress appeared isolated at the meeting as almost all the other parties, including Trinamool and NCP, backed the government action.
On Saturday, Chidambaram rejected suggestions of Congress being isolated at the all party meeting, contending that no political party had objected to the questions put by the Congress President.