 "Not Nehru's India of 1962, it's Modi's new India: BJP on Rahul's remarks")
Hitting back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that India is ignoring the threat of war from China, the BJP on Friday said he is trying to spread confusion and demoralise soldiers and added it is not Jawaharlal Nehru's India of 1962.
"This is Modi's India, this is new India. Now if anyone raises an eye against the country he gets a befitting reply," he asserted.
Addressing the press on the sidelines of his Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier in the day, Gandhi alleged that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and trying to ignore the threat.
Hitting back, BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, "Rahul Gandhi feels there should be proximity with China. Now he has developed so much proximity that he knows what China will do."
"During his yatra, Rahul Gandhi has make comments about Indian security and border areas to spread confusion ('bhram') in the country and demoralise Indian soldiers. This is not India of his great grandfather Nehru, who lost 37,242 square km to China while sleeping," he told a press conference here, referring to the 1962 war between India and China.
He further said Gandhi should not make irresponsible remarks about national security in a bid to "re-launch" himself.
After Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather lost land to China, Rathore said, "now he feels there should be proximity with China and he has developed so much proximity with China that he knows what China will do."
Referring to the Sonia Gandhi-headed Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rathore alleged, "It was on the payrolls of the Communist Party of China. Congress party signed an agreement with the Communist Party of China."
Rathore, a former Union minister, claimed there were a large number of Chinese transgressions during the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
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Whereas there has been a three-time increase in spending on border infrastructure since the Narendra Modi government assumed office in 2014. The country is now firmly guarding its borders and territory, he added.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi said, "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."
"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.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)