
New Delhi: So who is lying about the Chinese Army?
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today took to X to claim as “false”, the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about the statement of the Chief of the Army Staff on the situation along the India-China border.
Rahul, while speaking on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha yesterday, had attributed the claim of the presence of the Chinese army in Indian territory to the Chief of Army Staff.
Singh tweeted, “Shri Rahul Gandhi in his speech in Parliament on 03 February 2025 made false allegations about the statement of the Army Chief on the situation on the India-China border. The Army Chief’s remarks referred only to the disturbance of traditional patrolling by both sides. He also mentioned that these practices have been restored to their traditional pattern as part of the recent disengagement”.
The Defence Minister said the Government had shared these details in Parliament. “The words attributed to the Army Chief by Shri Rahul Gandhi were never spoken by him at any time. It is a matter of deep regret that Shri Rahul Gandhi should indulge in irresponsible politics on matters of national interest. If at all, there is Indian Territory into which China has come, this is 38,000 sq. km in Aksai Chin as a result of the 1962 conflict and 5,180 sq. km. illegally ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963. Shri Rahul Gandhi may consider introspecting about this phase of our history,” Singh stated.
Rahul had yesterday said in Parliament: “The Prime Minister has denied that Chinese forces are inside our territory, but for some reason, our army keeps talking to the Chinese about their entry into our territory and our Chief of Army Staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory, this is a fact, this is not invention, this is a fact. Now, what the reason China is inside our territory is important because people think that wars are fought between armies and their weapons, but the fact of the matter is that wars are fought by industrial system, the fact of the matter is that China has an industrial system that is far bigger than our industrial system and that is why they have the guts to come inside this country.”
Gandhi had gone on to argue that “the reason China is sitting inside this country is because ‘Make in India’ has failed, the reason China sitting inside this country is because India is refusing to produce and I am worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again”.
It may be mentioned that the Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, in response to a question during a press conference on January 13, 2025, on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), was quoted in the press as saying, “As far as the standoff is concerned, we have to see what all has changed after April 2020. Both sides have doctored the terrain (through deployments and construction), carried out billeting construction and there has been stocking and deployment. This means there is a degree of standoff”. He further stated, “There is a requirement for us to sit together and come to a broader understanding on how we want to kind of calm the situation down and restore the trust. So, we are now looking forward to the next meeting of the Special Representatives on the border issue and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs, and we will move forward based on their guidance…India has adequate strategic patience”.
– global bihari bureau