Congress surrendered 43,000 sq km of Indian land to China: BJP's JP Nadda hits back at ex-PM Manmohan Singh

BJP President JP Nadda claimed that during the UPA's tenure, Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister abjectly surrendered hundreds of square kilometre of Indian land to China.

PTI photo

New Delhi: BJP president JP Nadda on Monday (June 22) hit out at the Congress saying that they should stop compromising on national security and India`s territorial integrity as it would be the biggest disservice to the armed forces and asked not to buckle down.

Hitting out at the senior Congress leader for issuing a statement that said that the Prime Minister must be mindful of the implications of his words, Nadda claimed that during the UPA's tenure, Singh as the Prime Minister abjectly surrendered hundreds of square kilometre of Indian land to China. He also alleged that Singh presided over 600 incursions made by China between 2010 to 2013. 

The statement by BJP chief comes a day after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the death of 20 Indian soldiers ni a face-off with Chinese's People`s Liberation Army (PLA) in Ladakh's Galwan Valley. Following Singh's criticism of PM Modi, a war of words erupted between the ruling BJP and the Congress over the Galan Valley crisis. 

Slamming Congress for insulting the armed forces, Nadda questioned the party of raising doubt on the valour of the forces by asking for proofs of Balakor air strike in 2019 and Uri surgical strike in 2017.

Taking to Twitter on Monday, Nadda wrote, "Dear Dr. Singh and Congress party, please stop insulting our forces repeatedly, questioning their valour. You did this post the air strikes and surgical strikes. Please understand the true meaning of national unity, especially in such times. It's never too late to improve."

Soon after Nadda`s remarks, Congress national spokesperson and national media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala slammed the BJP chief and said, "Dear Nadda and the BJP, stop compromising on national security and India`s territorial integrity. "This would be the biggest disservice to our armed forces and our 20 martyrs. Don`t buckle down, have the strength to rise to the occasion. We`ll give the government every support," Surjewala said in a tweet.

Earlier in the day, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also said that 'hope government will accept ex-PM Singh's advice' in the interest of the country. "Important advice by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. For the betterment of India, I hope the Prime Minister will accept it politely," he said in a tweet.

The ward of words erupted between Congress and BJP after Manmohan Singh in a statement launched a scathing attack on PM Modi saying 'disinformation' on the Chinese transgression will be a 'betrayal' to the sacrifice made by the Indian soldiers at the LAC and it was neither a 'substitute for diplomacy' nor 'decisive leadership'.