Ladakh includes Aksai Chin: Ram Madhav

Amid rising tension with China, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday reiterated India’s claim to Aksai Chin as its own, saying India must show the same assertiveness on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China as it has shown on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, simply to protect its “self respect” and defend its land “till the last inch”.

The BJP leader said the solution to the ongoing standoff is actively engaging with China both diplomatically and militarily. He was speaking at an event on the India-China border issue organised by RSS mouthpiece Organiser.

 “Our claim is not just the LAC. Our claim goes beyond that. When it comes to J&K, it includes PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and when it comes to the UT of Ladakh, it includes Gilgit-Baltistan and Aksai Chin,” said Madhav. He, however, stressed the country does not want to wage a war with China. But India’s assertiveness on its side of the LAC is required to “protect its self-respect”. Madhav added that India will have to defend its land till the last inch. He also accepted that China as we see today is more aggressive. But he claimed that an aggressive China today is the result of an “assertive India”.

 The BJP leader claimed that China by nature never wanted to settle a border dispute. That was the reason it refused to insert the word “existing” in a mutual agreement when P.V. Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister. He also blamed the rising Chinese aggression on past political responses. “We wanted peace every time,” Madhav said. He listed that be it Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, Narasimha Rao in 1993 or Deve Gowda or UPA government, “all tried to make peace with China only to be betrayed by the Dragon”.

The senior BJP leader said the solution is to engage with China diplomatically while being militarily assertive to defend India’s land. “India will take a firm position on ground. We will fight for our self respect,” he remarked. He also took potshots at the Congress party to suggest it has been undoing efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi vis-à-vis China.