Political row ahead of final phase of Lok Sabha elections Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that China “allegedly” invaded India in October 1962.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections Sabha, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that China “allegedly” invaded India in October 1962.
He was speaking at the launch of the book ‘The First Recruits of Nehru’ by Kallo Bhattacherjee. Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) here on Tuesday.
“I was Jawaharlal Nehru’s last recruit… In October 1962, the Chinese allegedly invaded India. The day Tawang fell, the Foreign Service examination began in London. When they ended, I was prominent in the Cambridge Union and quoted in the papers. So many newspapers associated me with left-wing ideologies,” he said at the event.
However, he later sought to clarify his position, admitting that his choice of the term “allegedly” was inappropriate, especially in an election season.
Congress distanced itself from the remarks while attacking Narendra Modi throughout the year in the 2020 Galwani Valley clashes
Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar unreservedly used the term “alleged attack”. Compensation must be paid according to his age. The INC is distancing itself from its original phraseology,” said the party’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a message to “X”.
“20. The Chinese invasion of India that began in October 1962 was real. Such was the case with the Chinese attacks on Ladakh in early May 2020 where 20 of our soldiers were killed and the status quo was disrupted. However, the outgoing Prime Minister spoke publicly to the Chinese on June 19, 2020, seriously undermining our negotiating position. 2,000 square kilometers of territory, including Depsang and Demchok, are still beyond the reach of Indian forces,” he added.
Aiyar has recently been embroiled in yet another controversy over his remarks on Pakistan.
In an interview on a YouTube channel published on April 15, Chill Pill said India should dialogue with Pakistan because it had the nuclear bomb
“India should respect Pakistan because it had a nuclear bomb. If we do not respect them, they will think of using a nuclear bomb against India,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has infiltrated the Congress, encouraging an “anti-India” mentality.
BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said in a press conference, “Mani Shankar Aiyar says that in 1962 China allegedly invaded India. Can this happen without the consent of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge who are silent? Why this silence? We all know India and China’s relationship with India stood with great pride, showing China its place. Right now, this signal from the Congress and Mani Shankar Aiyar shows the anti-India mentality of the Congress party…”
BJP IT chief Amit Malviya also criticized the Congress for Aiyar’s remarks. “Mani Shankar Aiyar, speaking at the FCC at the launch of Nehru’s First Recruits, calls the invasion of China in 1962 ‘supposed’. It is a shameless attempt at revisionism,” he said X.
“Nehru renounced the demand of India to get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council in favor of the Chinese, Rahul Gandhi signed a secret understanding, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation accepted money from the Chinese embassy and published reports recommending Chinese companies to enter the market, based on which Sonia’s UPA Gandhi opened the Indian market to Chinese goods, harming small and medium enterprises, and now Congress leader Aiyar wants to whitewash the Chinese invasion, after which the Chinese illegally occupied 38,000 square kilometers of Indian territory. What explains the Congress’s love for China ? he added.
The final round of decisive parliamentary elections will occur on June 1st and the results will be announced on June 4th.
