Rahul Gandhi takes a swipe at PM Modi over LAC standoff with China

A day after accusing the prime minister of having "surrendered" Indian territory to Chinese aggression, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at him saying "Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi".

Gandhi's dig at the prime minister came in a tweet wherein he tagged an article in a foreign publication with the headline "India's appeasement policy toward China unravels".

"Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi," he tweeted.

The Congress leader on Saturday accused Modi of having "surrendered" Indian territory to Chinese aggression, after his remark that neither is anyone inside India's territory nor has anyone captured its posts, made at an all-party meeting.

"PM has surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression. If the land was Chinese: Why were our soldiers killed? Where were they killed," he had asked on Twitter on Saturday, tagging the prime minister's remark.

In a statement on the all-party meeting called by Modi on Friday to discuss the situation at the India-China border, the government said, "At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our posts captured."

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), however, said attempts are being made to give a "mischievous interpretation" to Modi's remarks at the all-party meeting.

The PMO said the prime minister's comments pertained to the situation at the LAC as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces, who foiled an attempt by Chinese troops to transgress into the Galwan Valley.

Indian and Chinese armies have been on a six-week standoff in several areas of eastern Ladakh. The ties between the two countries came under severe strain after Chinese military killed 20 Indian Army personnel and injured around 76 in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.