HANDLING OF CHINA BY INDIA

Rajnath flays Centre over handling of China

Itanagar (PTI): BJP President Rajnath Singh on Friday accused China of having an "aggressive" and "expansionist" agenda to encircle India which was reflected in its claim over Arunachal Pradesh and deployment of massive forces along the border.

Addressing press persons here on his maiden visit to this Himalayan state, Singh said the Congress-led UPA government lacked diplomatic acumen to exert pressure on China to give up its claim over Arunachal.

"Once the BJP-led NDA comes back to power at the Centre it will make China accept Arunachal as an integral part of India through diplomatic skill as was done in case of Sikkim during the NDA rule," he said.

Asked if External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukharjee's reported November 9 statement at Tawang that no power could snatch Arunachal or any part of it from India suffice, Singh said only statement would not do.

"China has already built the Beijing-Tibet railway line up to Arunachal border with massive deployment of forces, developed Yunan (China)-Erabadi sea port (Myanmar) route and under the China-Bangladesh strategic treaty it reached the Chittagong Port in Bay of Bengal, and had installed signal collection facility at Kokobir to collect India's sensitive data," he alleged.

Singh said China had also threatened to demolish the stone demarcation at Finger Nail on Sikkim border and already had demolished some army bunkers.

With a Naval fleet of 860 ships including 68 submarines, China had made great stride in its plan to encirlce India and Mukharjee's statement was of no use, Singh alleged.

Terming the country's foreign policy as "directionless", Singh said when Pakistani elements attacked Mumbai, India's Foreign Secretary rushed to Washington to submit proof which showed the weakness of the present government.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once announced to turn Mumbai into Shanghai within five years but it has became actually a Baghdad," he said.

Asked about the prospect of NDA returning to power, the saffron party leader said since 2004, 22 states went to polls and BJP and its allies captured power in 17 and BJP did well in the recent by-elections in Karnataka which indicated voters' choice for NDA in the next general elections.


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