Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, in a veiled attack on Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, said some people in the opposition spread incorrect news or information about China on purpose. He said the land which they were talking about “was in fact occupied in 1962”.
On Saturday said the land that opposition leaders said had been occupied by China “was in fact occupied in 1962”. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, taking a dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
The foreign minister also said some people deliberately spread incorrect information on the China issue, just for politics. The minister said they try to create an impression that it happened recently.
Last year, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given “100 square kilometres of Indian territory” to China “without a fight,” and asked the government how it would be retrieved. In a recent interaction with actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan, the Wayanad MP again claimed “China has taken 2,000 sqm, but our Prime Minister Modi has not said anything”.
The foreign minister said without taking names “Sometimes, they talk about some land which was taken by China in 1962. But they will not tell you the truth. They will give you the impression that this thing happened yesterday.” He said sometimes such people (leaders of political parties) spread wrong news or information about China on purpose.
Jaishankar added “If you want to ask why they have no confidence, why are they misleading people, why do they spread the wrong khabar (news) about China? How can I answer these questions? Because I know they are also doing politics. Sometimes they deliberately spread such news that they know is not true.”
The minister took a further dig at Rahul Gandhi’s 2017 meeting with the envoy when the two countries were in a standoff. In 2017, when India and China were locked in a standoff on the border area abutting Bhutan, the Congress said Rahul Gandhi had met the ambassadors of the two neighbouring countries.