Rahul Gandhi questions Centre over Indo-China border dispute, says 'govt must come clean'

As a controversy broke on Friday after United States President Donald Trump claimed that he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Indo-China border dispute, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has said that government must 'come clean' on the issue. Taking to Twitter, the Wayanad MP claimed the silence of the government on the border situation is fueling massive speculation. He said that the Centre should tell 'exactly what's happening.'

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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump offered mediation over the Indo-China border row and claimed that he has spoken to Prime Minister Modi. He said that PM Modi is not in 'good mood' over the current situation. However, citing government sources news agencies PTI, ANI has denied the claims by Trump and said that both leaders last spoke on April 4 on the topic of Hydroxychloroquine.

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India, China to defuse tension

Contarary to Rahul Gandhi's claims, as per sources, high-level Indian and Chinese military commanders met at designated points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on May 22 and 23 to defuse the present tension in Eastern Ladakh. Moreover, diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Beijing are also working towards a peaceful resolution, sources have said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting in which Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the three Service chiefs and senior officials of the Ministry of Defence participated. Moreover, the PM met the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the CDS and the three Service chiefs. 

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Face-off between China and India 

In the face-off on May 5, scores of Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed along the northern bank of the Pangong Lake and even resorted to stone-pelting. A number of soldiers on both sides sustained injuries. It was the first case of troops from the two sides exchanging blows after a similar incident around the Pangong Lake in August 2017.

In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector of the Sino-India border on Saturday. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries in the incident. The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Moreover, Chinese military helicopters were seen flying close to the Line of Actual Control on at least a couple of occasions following the clashes after which a fleet of Su-30 fighters of the Indian Air Force too carried out sorties in the area, the sources said. There was no official word on whether the Su-30 jets were rushed in to carry out the sorties in the wake of the face-off and aggressive Chinese posturing in the area. The sources said Chinese military helicopters routinely carry out sorties on the Chinese side of the border while Indian Army helicopters also fly in the area.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border between the two countries. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it. Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in border areas.

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