BJP MP Slams Rajiv Gandhi for Chinese construction in Arunachal Pradesh

Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Arunachal Pradesh Tapir Gao on Tuesday claimed that it was during the Congress regime that China occupied Sumdorong Chu Valley in Tawang. He also said that the then army chief planned an operation to push PLA  back across the McMahon Line but PM Rajiv Gandhi did not give final clearance resulting in permanent occupation of that area. He also pointed out that this occupation of Indian territory by PLA has been going on since the 1980s and the Congress government never confronted China in the required manner.

Gao said, “Since the 80s China is constructing roads. They've built Longju to Maza road. During Rajiv Gandhi's regime, China occupied Sumdorong Chu Valley in Tawang”.

“They have already constructed a military base between Bisa and Maza which is inside McMahon Line, under Indian territory," Gao added. He also slammed Congress for not building roads up to the Indo-China border which left a buffer zone of 3-4 km which China occupied, this led China to believe that India lacks the political will to retaliate.

"Operation Pelican was hatched to flush out the Chinese army. But Rajiv Gandhi quashed the plan and instead went to Beijing in 1986 and came back empty-handed. From the 80s till today, the Chinese have occupied this area and they have constructed a military base on land in the Indian Territory as per the McMahon line. I don't know what happened to Indian intelligence reported to the Government of India," stated Gao.

BJP MP also lauded the centre for building two-lane roads up to the border which will help the Indian Army to launch an appropriate response in case of any further  PLA occupation.

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We are with LAC in Ladakh but not in Arunachal Pradesh. We have the Mcmahon line in Arunachal. If we call the McMahon line as Line of Actual Control, it means we are considering that we have surrendered our area to China," Gao added. The McMahon Line is a demarcation line between Tibet and the Northeast region of India proposed by British colonial administrator Sir Henry McMahon at the 1914 Simla Convention signed between British and Tibetan representatives. It is currently the generally recognized boundary between China and India, although its legal status is disputed by the Chinese government.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that it has taken notice of  China undertaking construction work along with the border areas with India and assured the nation that the government keeps a constant watch on all developments regarding India's security and takes all the necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.