Will PM Modi raise Aksai Chin issue with Xi Jinping? Asks Congress' Manish Tewari

A day ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will raise the issue of Aksai Chin with him.

Tewari on Twitter mocked the NDA leaders for talking about taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and stated that none of them has "gumption" to say that India will take back Aksai Chin from China.

"All are blow hards in NDA/BJP talk about taking POK and Gilgit-Baltistan back from Pakistan, but none of them have gumption to say that we will take Aksai-Chin back from the Chinese that was illegally ceded to it by Pakistan in 1963. Will @PMOIndia raise return of Askai Chin with Xi??" Tewari tweeted.

The Chinese President will visit Chennai from October 11-12 for the second Informal Summit between Prime Minister Modi and him.

The informal summit will provide an opportunity to the two leaders to continue their discussions on overarching issues of bilateral, regional and global importance and to exchange views on deepening India-China Closer Development Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Earlier today, Tewari had criticised the central government after China while issuing a joint statement with Pakistan stated that it is "paying close attention to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir".

"Xi Jinping says he is watching Kashmir but why does @PMOIndia/MEA not say 1) We are watching Pro Democracy protests muzzled in Hong Kong. 2) We are watching human rights violations in Xinjiang. 3) We are watching continued oppression in Tibet. 4) We are watching South China Sea," Tewari tweeted.

Following Chinese President's comments on Kashmir, India in a quick response asserted that it is not for other countries to comment on "internal affairs of India".

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India's position has been consistent and clear that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.

A joint statement released by China and Pakistan on Wednesday following a meeting between Khan and Xi said that Beijing is "paying close attention to the current situation in Jammu & Kashmir" and that the matter should be "properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements."

"China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation. The two sides underlined that a peaceful, stable, cooperative and prosperous South Asia was in common interest of all parties. Parties need to settle disputes and issues in the region through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect," the statement said.