Former defence minister A.K. Antony has described the terms of disengagement with China as “surrender”, accusing the Narendra Modi government of “appeasing” Beijing by compromising on India’s territorial integrity.

“It’s surrender. Decreasing tension on the border is good. But on what terms?

At what cost? At the cost of national security? On terms dictated by China? This is a compromise with India’s territorial integrity,” the former defence minister, who knows the nature of border disputes with China, declared on Sunday.

“They (the government) agreed to disengagement on Chinese terms. Then to appease China, they sent a message that they don’t want to confront China by not increasing the defence budget (sizeably),” the former defence minister said.

Antony explained: “Last year’s revised estimate for defence was Rs 4.71 lakh crore. This year’s allocation is Rs 4.78 lakh crore. An increase of a mere 1.48 per cent. Meagre. Insignificant. This is betrayal. The government has let the forces down.

“We are facing almost a two-front war situation. Pakistan, as usual, is creating trouble. They are still encouraging terrorism. China has become more belligerent. We see troops mobilisation and infrastructure development all across India’s borders with China. Then this message to China through the budget.”

The BJP has used the word “appeasement” for decades to torment the Congress for its policies towards minorities. Now the ruling party has to confront this charge in the context of China — an accusation that is bound to cut deep as Modi has built his persona on a projection of robust leadership.

After Rahul Gandhi’s blunt attack on Modi’s handling of the Chinese intrusion as “one hundred per cent cowardice”, Antony’s charge of appeasing China and compromising on India’s territorial integrity too takes aim at the Prime Minister’s carefully crafted image.

Antony said: “Areas traditionally under Indian control have been given up. We have ceded our land to create a buffer zone inside Indian territory. Our forces used to patrol till Finger 8. The Chinese came to Finger 4. The area between Finger 4 and Finger 8 was disputed. Scuffles occurred occasionally but we never accepted the Chinese claim. India had a post at Finger 4. But we have now agreed to be stationed at Finger 3, the permanent headquarters there. The Chinese have clearly gained. We have surrendered.”

Cautioning the country against adverse fallouts, the former defence minister said: “If this pattern goes like that in Arunachal, Depsang, Gogra, Hot Springs, what will happen? The government is not realising the dangers. It is creating a wrong precedent. In 2017, China agreed on the status quo in Doklam but they are still there. The government must tell the nation what plan it has to restore status quo ante April 2020. The LAC cannot be redrawn.”

Pointing out that the Galwan Valley was never a point of dispute, Antony said: “We should understand the importance of the Galwan Valley. If China wants to play mischief, it can help Pakistan capture Siachen. I don’t know how our brave soldiers took control of the Kailash ranges. That was miraculous. We could have used that as a bargaining counter. But we agreed to withdraw from there. Why are we ceding our national interests? We lost 20 soldiers… we thought the government would honour their sacrifice. It is sad that the Modi government is not giving proper priority to national security.”

Ironically, the charge has come on the anniversary of the day 40 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama in 2019, a tragedy that changed the course of the last general election.

Many Congress leaders recalled the Pulwama incident, wondering about the security and intelligence failures that led to the massacre.