Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, in a series of tweets, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that “no one can touch an inch of India’s territory” was just rhetoric, considering — as per the assessment of Indian security agencies — the Chinese troops were still up to 1.5 km on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Also read: LAC standoff | China has preferred talks, says Rajnath SinghMr. Chidambaram said that in May the Chinese troops had entered up to five km on our side of the LAC. “All talk of “no one had intruded into Indian territory and no one is inside Indian territory” was empty rhetoric. As long as the Govt does not acknowledge the reality, the status quo ante will be an elusive goal,” he said. The Hindu reported on Saturday that the Chinese troops were yet to fully move out of patrolling point 15 of Hot Springs area in Eastern Ladakh and continued to occupy positions within 1.5 km of India’s perception of the LAC.

Source: The Hindu July 18, 2020 05:13 UTC