The Congress on Monday sought to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the statement he made on this day three years ago in the context of the Chinese intrusion, saying that neither had anybody intruded into Indian territory nor had any of India’s posts been captured.

Accusing the Modi government of stonewalling any discussion or questions in the last three years on this issue, related to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “We demand a debate on the situation at the LAC in the monsoon session of Parliament. The nation must know the truth about the border situation. The government neither allowed any debate on China in Parliament nor in the parliamentary standing committee or the consultative committee of the defence ministry."

Tewari added: “Even questions related to the Chinese intrusion are not admitted. Many MPs tried to ask questions; 66 questions asked by me were not entertained. Even the American ambassador said India doesn’t want to poke China.”

The Prime Minister had made that statement at an all-party meeting on June 19, 2020. Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh posted that video on Monday morning, saying: “Today three years ago the Prime Minister gave this clean chit to China. Just listen to him. It has hurt & will continue to hurt India very badly. His continued silence thereafter both in Parliament & outside has contributed to a weakening of India’s negotiating position.”

Asserting that the Prime Minister’s statement contradicted the stand taken by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh, Tewari said: “If what Modi said is correct, why did military commanders of India and China meet for 18 rounds of discussions in the last three years? Why did Rajnath Singh meet his Chinese counterpart in Russia and Jaishankar discussed the border situation with the Chinese foreign minister?”

Tewari recalled how a paper presented at a recent meeting of DGPs and IGPs had stated that the Indian forces had lost access to 26 of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh. “Isn’t it true that the buffer zone has come up inside Indian territory in the disengagement process, particularly in Gogra and Hot Springs? Even on the Depsang plains, China wants the 20-25km buffer zone inside Indian territory. Is it not true the Chinese are raising infrastructure on an unprecedented scale along the LAC? What has the government done to check that?”