China preparing for war, Indian govt asleep: Rahul Gandhi

PTI, Dec 16, 2022, 6:30 PM IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and trying to ignore the threat.

He also alleged that China has taken away 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killed 20 Indian soldiers and is ”thrashing our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh”.

”I can see the threat of China very clearly. I have been clear on this for the last two-three years, but the government is trying to hide it and ignore it. This threat can neither be hidden or ignored. Going by their full offensive preparation that is on in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the Indian government is asleep,” Gandhi told a press conference here.

”The government does not want to hear this but their (China’s) preparation is on. The preparation is for war. It is not for incursion, but for war. If you look at their weapon pattern, what they are doing — they are preparing for war. Our government hides this and is not able to accept it,” the former Congress chief said.

He said this is happening because the Narendra Modi government does event-based work and does not work strategically.

”They think in terms of event management but where geostrategy is involved, event-based action does not work, power works there. I have said three-four times that we should be careful and understand what is happening. They keep making statements, I see the external affairs minister keeps making remarks, I should not say it, but he should deepen his understanding,” Gandhi said.

The Congress has been accusing the BJP-led government of succumbing to pressure from China and not taking on the neighbouring country after its frequent transgressions at the border.

The opposition party has been saying that the prime minister should take on China and address the border issues with it strongly by looking ”eye to eye”.

The Congress has also been seeking a discussion in Parliament on the border issue and Chinese transgressions at the border.