Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi over his recent statements on the Indian Army, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that it is Congress’ “strategy” to make “hateful remarks” about Army.
Prasad, while addressing a press conference here, referred to the purported video in which the Indian Army personnel were seen thrashing the Chinese Army, and said that the Army is giving a befitting response in the Tawang faceoff that took place on December 9. “Rahul Gandhi questioned the Indian Army again today. He’s asking when’ll the land be returned. But when was the land taken? Video shows Army giving a befitting response in Tawang and he says Army ‘pitti hain’. It’s his party’s strategy to make hateful remarks about Army,” Prasad said.
Retorting to Gandhi’s ‘Made in India’ remark, in which he said that India needs to turn the cellphones “made in China” to “made in India”, Prasad said that India is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones.
“Rahul Gandhi spoke about ‘Make In India’. Today, India is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones after China. Rahul Gandhi should know that Samsung and Apple phones are being made in India now,” the BJP leader said.
Rahul, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan earlier this month (December 16), had said that the Indian Army soldiers are being thrashed by the Chinese Army along the Line of Actual Control.
“The ones who captured 2,000 sq km of India and killed 20 Indian soldiers, and are thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh. I said to my friend that the Indian media would not ask me questions about it,” he said.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that Chinese troops had attempted to transgress the LAC at Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh in a bid to “unilaterally change the status quo”, but were given a firm and resolute response forcing the Chinese side to retreat.
In his statement in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Singh said the face-off led to a physical scuffle that led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides but “there were no fatalities or serious casualties” to Indian soldiers.
Giving statements in both House, the Defence Minister also assured that “our forces are committed to protecting our territorial integrity and will continue to thwart any attempt made on it”.