Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday yet again asked the Narendra Modi government whether Chinese troops have intruded into India, after a government clarification on defence minister Rajnath Singh’s statement about the presence of Chinese soldiers in India created confusion.

The former Congress president tweeted: “Can the Government of India please confirm that no Chinese soldiers have entered India?”

Rahul asked the question after the Press Information Bureau, the government’s communications wing, ran a fact check on reports related to Rajnath’s interview to a news channel on Tuesday and dubbed as “fake news” the information that the defence minister had “admitted” that Chinese soldiers had entered Indian territory.

The confusion arose after the “PIB Fact Check” Twitter handle said: “Claim: Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh admitted on @CNNNews18 that Chinese soldiers crossed Indian side of LAC.

“Fact: The Minister was referring to different perceptions of LAC & presence of Chinese troops. It is being misinterpreted as if Chinese troops entered Indian side of LAC.”

Ironically, the defence minister had repeatedly said during the interview that negotiations were going on both at diplomatic and military levels to resolve the standoff. Rajnath, whose comments were the first official statement on the border tensions after three weeks of silence on an escalating standoff at the border, had also said that even the Chinese had said the issue could be sorted out peacefully through dialogue.

Rajnath had spoken of a June 6 meeting between the military leaders of India and China and said it was “true” that Chinese troops had come in significant numbers — “achhi khasi sankhya”.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Wednesday: “It is strange that the PIB gives a clarification on the defence minister’s statement. Was the defence minister lying? It is about national security, not a child’s play. If the Chinese troops have not entered Indian territory, why did the defence minister make the statement at all?”

The Congress veteran added: “We stand by the government on matters of national security but how will you ensure the nation’s support without sharing the facts? Don’t hide facts, don’t distort facts. There is no point in an ostrich-like attitude. Don’t make a mockery of national security.”

Rahul had sought clarity from the government on the border tensions a couple of days ago, too.

“The Government’s silence about the border situation with China is fuelling massive speculation and uncertainty at a time of crisis. The Government must come clean and tell India exactly what’s happening,” the Congress parliamentarian had tweeted.

After the defence minister’s interview, former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, who is a part of the Congress foreign affairs department, tweeted: “Finally Rajnath Singh admits Chinese intrusion in “achhi khasi sankhya”. 1.Could he please define what “achhi khasi sankhya” means? 2. How much of our land beyond LAC occupied by Chinese? 3. If LAC is a phantom, how much territory occupied beyond Chinese claim line? 4. How broad is intrusion?”

Such intense grilling by the Opposition party establishes beyond doubt that there is a border crisis and the government, which boasts of a robust security doctrine, has not acted effectively and shied away from the usual aggressive response in case of Pakistan.

Modi, who had been quiet on the 2017 Doklam standoff with China, has avoided discussing uncomfortable questions publicly this time as well.

The Congress feels it is an oddity for a government to discuss a national security matter with other countries without taking the Opposition into confidence.

The government had said on Tuesday that Modi had spoken to US President Donald Trump about the China issue, among other things, in a telephone conversation.

Rajnath, too, said in the interview that he had discussed the matter with US defence secretary Mark Esper. Rajnath said he had told his US counterpart that there was a mechanism between India and China to resolve border disputes.

Earlier, Trump had twice offered to mediate between India and China.

Asked if the government should not formally apprise the Opposition parties about the ground reality, Congress spokesperson Singhvi said: “We don’t have much expectations on this from a government that has treated the Opposition as an enemy. But we will still stand by the government, whether it takes the diplomatic route to resolve the problem or an aggressive military recourse. The entire nation will stand united on this issue.”