China building base on land India held until 2020: Kharge

In this photograph provided by the Indian Army, tanks pull back from the banks of Pangong Tso lake region, in Ladakh along the India-China border on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021.
| Photo Credit: AP

Citing news reports of a Chinese military base being built near Pangong Tso, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the Narendra Modi government demanding that the country be taken into confidence on the border situation with China.

Mr. Kharge shared a news report which said that the Chinese military had built bunkers to store weapons and fuel, and hardened shelters for armoured vehicles in an area around Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh. Mr. Kharge asked, “How can China build a military base near Pangong Tso on land which was under Indian occupation until May 2020?”

Mr. Kharge held the Narendra Modi government responsible for not maintaining the status quo ante at the LAC, with India losing possession of 26 patrolling points out of 65, including points in the Depsang Plains, Demchok and Gogra Hot Springs area

“The Indian National Congress once again reiterates its demand to take the nation into confidence on the border situation at the LAC. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our valiant soldiers,” Mr. Kharge said in a post on X. He also recounted PM Modi’s various statements on the prolonged standoff at LAC. He said this was the 5th year of giving clean chits to China. He cited, PM Modi’s interview in the run up to the elections on 10th April to foreign press where, as per Mr. Kharge, the PM failed to put forth India’s case strongly. On 13th April, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too, in an interview said, “China has not occupied any of our land,” exposing Modi Govt’s “meek policy” towards China.

Mr. Kharge underlined that on 4th July, Mr. Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart. During the meeting, he spoke about “respecting the LAC and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas…” But parallelly, Mr. Kharge said, “China continues to be belligerent, occupying our territory and constructing a military base at Sirijap, reportedly land that was under Indian control.”