The Trinamool Congress has criticised the Centre and PM Narendra Modi for being silent on the issue of China including Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as part of its territory in a map released on Monday.
“China has released its official “standard map” including the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as part of its territory. While such a national security threat looms over our nation, PM Narendra Modi continues to maintain DEAFENING SILENCE on the issue. Mr Prime Minister, just like Manipur, will this matter, too, conveniently escape your attention?” the Trinamool Congress posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The map was released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Monday in Zhejiang province, according to China Daily. Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea have also been included within Chinese territory in the new map.
“This map clearly exposes the hollow and empty rhetoric of nationalism that the BJP uses before elections. Within days we are going to see the G20 summit take place in Delhi hosted by India. The question is while PM Modi prepares for the summit, will he have any bilateral talks with the President of China about the release of this map and the border dispute,” said Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev in a video message shared over X. Sushmita Dev is the face of the Trinamool Congress in the North-east.
Dev added: “I hope we realise as a resident of this country that territorial integrity is central to the foreign policy of the country and quite clearly after meeting the president of China 18-19 times, nothing has come out of it. Our soldiers have lost their lives and the state of Arunachal Pradesh, the entire northeast as well as the whole nation today faces a threat from China which PM Modi is just not willing to accept. Therefore, China is becoming more and more belligerent. This is poor foreign policy and a serious threat to the country.”
Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev has taken a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that a standard map displayed recently, which seemingly depicted Arunachal Pradesh as part of China, clearly exposes the hollow and empty rhetoric of nationalism that BJP consistently uses before the elections. Dev’s criticism comes in the wake of China’s map that shows Arunachal Pradesh as a part of China. This incident has provided fodder to opposition parties, who have long accused the BJP of exploiting nationalist sentiments for political gains.
Taking to microblogging site X, Dev in a video asked will Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a discussion on the issue with the Chinese President at the G20 summit
‘’The standard map which shows that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of China clearly exposes the hollow and empty rhetoric of nationalism that @BJP4India consistently uses before the elections.@SushmitaDevAITC
The question is: Will PM @narendramodi hold a discussion on the issue with the Chinese President in the G20 summit?’’ she wrote on X.
Commenting on the discussion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the President of China, Dev alleged it was a futile discussion.
‘’On 28th of August, China released an official standard map and the horrific part is that Arunachal Pradesh and other disputed areas of the India-China border are shown as a part of China. Now, this is within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the Chinese President on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
We read on the paper about it but clearly it was a futile discussion,’’ she added. She further said that despite incidents like Doklam and Galwan, PM Modi continuously gave China a clean chit saying that nobody has entered Indian territory.
