Rahul questions Modi's 'silence' on China issue

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the government over the stand-off with China in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue.

"Why is our Prime Minister silent on China?" Gandhi tweeted.

Gandhi's tweet came after Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping came face to face at the BRICS leaders' meeting at Hamburg in Germany. There is no bilateral meeting scheduled between the two leaders.

The genesis of the feud between the countries lies in Doklam at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China.

Beijing and Thimpu both claim Doklam, where the Chinese were stopped by the Indian Army from building a road.

New Delhi's objection to the road in Doklam, a strategic point near India's crucial Siliguri corridor, is due to the pending ownership of the place.

Beijing calls the road construction "just," saying Doklam belongs to China.

The Congress earlier this week said the government had been "caught napping" on the situation on the border with China and there had been a large number of incursions.

--IANS

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