New Delhi:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to defend the nation referring to the second bridge reportedly built by the China over Pangong Tso (lake) in eastern Ladakh.
Gandhi tweeted, “India’s National security and territorial integrity is non-negotiable. A timid and docile response won’t do. PM must defend the Nation.”
This comes after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday assured that the central government is monitoring the situation after reports claimed that the Chinese side was constructing a second bridge over the Pangong Tso Lake.
To which, the Congress leader, in his tweet, highlighted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre had earlier given the assurance as well when the China had build their first bridge over the lake in the union territory.
However, the MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “There is this issue of talks as well as the bridge. On the talks part of it, we have been pretty clear, we have been saying the same thing repeatedly, and we have had various rounds of conversations with the Chinese side at different levels diplomatic and military side.”
“We have seen reports on this bridge or a second bridge… we are monitoring the situation. Of course, we always felt it was occupied… Talks on with the Chinese side,” said Bagchi.
Following the rise in tensions across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the summer of 2020, including at Pangong Tso, India and China have held 15 rounds of talks for disengagement to defuse the tensions in the area.
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