As talks between India and China on military and diplomatic level over the border standoff continue, Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal talked about the disputed Aksai Chin territory on Wednesday, 10 June.
On being asked about the problems that local grazers are facing in the pasture lands, Ladakh MP in an interview to India Today, said, “First, we lost Aksai Chin to China in 1962 which I call Chinese-occupied territory...and since then China has had this policy that Chinese nomads along with the PLA troops seize pasture lands, inch by inch in the past few years.”
He continued, “This is not just the case in Pangong area, from Chumur to Demchok, Chushul, nomads live in all these areas...India has lost a lot of pasture land to China.”
His statements come after his recent three-day visit to the border areas of eastern Ladakh, along with Pangong Lake near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) where tension is prevailing.
‘Want Aksai-Chin Back’: Namgayal
Ladakh MP reiterated, “Till the time we have a government by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we want to assure people..that we will not lose even in an inch of the country,”
Making the same statement to Times Now, the Ladakh MP had further said, “When China showed ‘laal aankh,’ we showed them 56-inch chest.”
“We want Aksai Chin back....we want Gilgit-Baltistan back. This is the first government who is stating this with confidence in the parliament,” he said to Times Now.
It must be noted that all this comes against the backdrop of top government sources stating that Indian and Chinese troops have begun mutual disengagement in some parts of eastern Ladakh ahead of talks on Wednesday.
Ladakh MP’s Jibe at Rahul Gandhi
Ladakh MP also replied to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's questions on Chinese aggression in Ladakh, who has been alleging lack of clarity from the government’s side on the border issue.
In a sarcastic tweet on Tuesday, Rahul aimed at the defence minister Rajnath Singh, questioning, “Have the Chinese occupied Indian territory in Ladakh?”
Namgyal took it upon himself to rebut the Congress leader in a post on Wednesday wrote, “I hope Rahul Gandhi and Congress will agree with my reply based on facts and hopefully they won't try to mislead again.”
Replying to Rahul’s questions, he said, “Yes, Chinese occupied Indian Territory as under.”
He went on to list areas that he claimed were occupied under Congress’ regime:
- Aksai Chin (37,244 square km) in 1962 during Congress regime.
- Tia Pangnak and Chabji Valley (250m length) in Chumur area till 2008 during UPA time.
- Zorawar Fort in Demjok was destroyed by PLA in 2008 and setup PLA's Observing Point in 2012 during UPA regime and also created Chinese/new Demjok/Colony with 13 cemented houses.
- India lost Doom Cheley (ancient trade point) between Dungti and Demjok in 2008-2009 during UPA regime.
Namgyal also attached a map that he captioned as an “Overview of Demjok area. Chinese intruded land of India till 2012 during Congress regime (sic).”
On Tuesday, a group of Army veterans in a statement released by the BJP too blamed the Congress for neglecting the border infrastructure, while recalling the “Nehruvian blunders in Tibet and Aksai Chin” to remind the party of the India-China legacy issues regarding LAC.
In 1962, there were border clashes between India and China, at the conclusion of the conflict, China retained control of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 square km) of territory in Aksai Chin. The area has remained a point of contention between the two countries.
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