Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Sunday posed five questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the India-China border dispute, which the country “demands and deserves”. The party’s general secretary posted the questions on his official Twitter handle.
In a tweet post, he asked PM Modi to break his silence on China and unite India. Ramesh said, “Today is the 102nd day of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Prime Minister, break the silence on China, connect India.”
Ramesh asked PM Modi the first question – what emboldened the Chinese to try to capture the Indian post in the Yangtse region of Tawang, after a two-year-long ‘disengagement’? The Yangtse is dominated by India since PM Rajiv Gandhi stationed troops there during the Sumdorong Chu conflict in 1986. How did the Chinese dare to open a new front?
He also asked PM Modi why he is running away from discussion and what he is hiding from the people of India.
“There are reports that Chinese incursions have been bigger and more frequent in the eastern sector. Previous governments were confident of taking journalists and parliamentarians to the front in 1965, 1971 and Kargil in 1999. Even in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Doklam Defense was also discussed,” Ramesh said.
The Congress MP further said that even after 16 rounds of military-level talks, the Chinese are tied up at a depth of 18 kilometers in Depsang.
Indian patrols have been unable to access hundreds of square kilometers of territory in this important strategic area. What does PM Modi propose to do about this?” he further demanded to know from PM Modi.
Ramesh further asked, “Sometime back you had expressed brotherhood and closeness to President Xi Jinping and described your relationship as “plus one”. Could it be that, as you said in 2013, “the problem is not at the border, the problem is in Delhi?”
Claiming that the Indian Army was unprepared to respond to the Chinese aggression, Ramesh said that the Indian Air Force chief is on record saying that they are 12 squadrons short of the desired fighter strength of 42 squadrons.
“While UPA ordered 6 Scorpene submarines, Project 75I for 6 more submarines is getting delayed again and again. Army recruitment under Agneepath plan has declined sharply. Why is there a significant difference?” He asked.
(With ANI inputs)
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