Congress demands white paper on LAC

It also sought a comprehensive discussion on the contentious boundary dispute in Parliament.

Congress on Monday asked the government to issue a white paper on the situation on the India-China border and a comprehensive discussion on the contentious boundary dispute in Parliament.

The party's demand came as it recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at an all-party meeting after the Galwan clashes that "neither anyone has entered our border, nor any post is in the possession of others" exactly three years ago.

Senior Congress MP and party spokesperson Manish Tewari said these remarks by the prime minister were contrary to what the Ministry of External Affairs said a day before he made the statement. The MEA had said the Galwan incident took place because Chinese soldiers tried to intrude and set up tents on the Indian side of the border.

"As a responsible opposition, we demand a comprehensive discussion on the India-China border dispute. We also demand that a white paper be issued on what is the truth of the developments that have taken place on the LAC in the last three years," Tewari told a press conference.

Read | The world knows what China did, in Galwan and after

He asked whether 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory is in Chinese occupation and India is not able to get it back due to the Prime Minister's "clean chit" to China.

"The clean chit actually undermined and subverted India's national interest. We expect that the government will give a responsible statement on China," Tewari said.

He also said there have been 18 border-level talks in the last three years and why there are continuous discussions over years of there being no intrusion as claimed by the Prime Minister.

Referring to a paper submitted by a senior IPS officer at a police conference, he asked whether it was true that the security forces have lost control of over 26 out of 65 patrolling points on Line of Actual Control (LoAC).

"Is it true that buffer zones have been created within our borders? What did the government of India do to stop the transgressions on the LoAC by China? Why was China not discussed even once in Parliament or the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Defence?" he said. He also alleged that questions on the India-China border issue are not admitted.