“Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times,” the former army chief and now BJP MP had said.
India has “transgressed” more times than China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), BJP’s V.K. Singh had said earlier this week. Beijing, calling it an “unwitting confession”, alleged that New Delhi’s “frequent acts of trespass” was at the root of border tensions.
In the city of Madurai on Sunday, minister of state for road transport and highways V.K. Singh told reporters that China had transgressed several times across the un-demarcated border “with his own perception of the LAC”, He went on to add: “Similarly, none of you come to know how many times we have transgressed as per our perception. Chinese media does not cover it”.
“Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times,” the former army chief and now BJP MP had said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, in response to Singh’s remarks, stated that this was an acknowledgement of encroachment by India.
On Monday, at the daily briefing, Mr Wenbin said: “This is an unwitting confession by the Indian side. For a long time, the Indian side has conducted frequent acts of trespass in the border area in an attempt to encroach on China’s territory and constantly created disputes and frictions, which is the root cause of the tensions at the China-India border.”
“We urge the Indian side to follow through on the consensus, agreements and treaties it reached with China, and uphold peace and stability in the border region with concrete actions,” he added.
The question about the Indian minister’s comments, according to the official transcript, was not asked during the briefing, but after it ended.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, slamming the centre for Mr Singh’s remarks, said he should have been sacked.
“Why is a BJP minister helping China make a case against India? He should’ve been sacked. Not sacking him means insulting every Indian Jawan,” Mr Gandhi said, tweeting a picture of a news article that reported China’s response.
Why is a BJP minister helping China make a case against India?
He should’ve been sacked.
Not sacking him means insulting every Indian Jawan. pic.twitter.com/8NK5nCJTG4
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 9, 2021
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