Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while addressing election meetings in UP, blasted AICC leader Rahul Gandhi for misleading the nation on the Galwan valley Indo-China clashes.
Singh ridiculed Rahul’s statement that Indian soldiers could kill only 3-4 Chinese soldiers. He asserted that Indian soldiers had given an appropriate reply to China. He quoted an Australian newspaper that said China lost 35-40 soldiers in the clashes.
The Defence minister accused Rahul of not trusting the valour of Indian soldiers and relying on the Chinese media instead. Rajnath quoted Australian newspaper “The Klaxon”. The newspaper has stated the possibility that China suffered 35-80 casualties during clashes with Indian Soldiers.
“We have given a message to the world that India is not a weak nation now. We can cross border and attack,” the defence minister said about the June 2020 skirmish in the eastern Ladakh sector. He was addressing a rally at Talwara in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
“Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that many Indian jawans were killed in Galwan and few of China. He trusted the Chinese media. The Australian media reported that 38 to 50 Chinese were killed. The Congress leader does not trust valour of our army jawans,” he added.
Nehru/Indira lost Indian territories
Taking a jibe at Rahul, Singh said that China could not encroach even an inch of our territory due to valour of our soldiers. It was during the rule of Nehru and Indira Gandhi that neighbouring countries illegally occupied Indian territory.
Rahul’s proclivity to warm up to the Chinese came to fore in 2018. In 2018, he had met the CPC delegation led by Meng Xiangfeng, a member of the CPC Central Committee. Earlier, Gandhi had secretly met Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui for interaction during the Doklam stalemate between India and China.
In this background it is not surprising that Rahul, during his address in Lok Sabha, sounded more sympathetic to China than to India and Indian soldiers.