India fighting 2 wars against China, will win them both, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday joined four of his counterparts against "politicisation" of India-China border row after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under attack for his controversial remarks during an all-party meeting even as he appeared to support a conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was man-made.

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During a digital address, Kejriwal said the country is fighting "two wars against China" -- one against the "virus (COVID-19) sent" by China and another "at the border" -- and this was not the time to do politics.

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"Today, the country is fighting two wars against China. One is against the virus (COVID-19) sent by China and the second at the (India-China border). Our doctors and nurses are fighting against the virus while our soldiers are fighting against China at the borders," Kejriwal said.

He said the whole country is with the healthcare workers and soldiers and "in these two wars", all countrymen should be united.

"There should not be any politics in this. This is not the time to play politics. The country has to fight unitedly against the Chinese at the borders and COVID-19. Twenty of our soldiers did not back out and the country is not going to back out till we win," he said.

Kejriwal's appeal for the united fight came against the backdrop of Congress, CPI(M) and a section of defence and foreign affairs experts among others attacking PM Modi for his comments that "neither anyone intruded into our territory nor anyone is present in our territory nor any military post has been captured". It was interpreted as giving a lee-way to China and going against the statement earlier by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that China erected structures on Indian side of the border.

Also read — PMO issues clarification over PM Modi's comments that no one entered Indian territory

As the attack on PM Modi intensified, the Prime Minister's Office issued a clarification on Saturday that his remarks were about the incident that happened in Galwan valley on June 15. Four Chief Ministers -- K Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana), Y S Jaganmohan Reddy (Andhra Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya) and Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim) -- tweeted on Saturday in support of Modi.

Incidentally, Kejriwal or AAP was not invited to the all-party meeting, and the party had raised criticism over the issue. AAP's Parliamentary Party leader Sanjay Singh had on Friday launched an attack on the Modi government before the meeting, asking why it was hiding details about the border row.

Also read — India-China Border: AAP, RJD not invited for all-party meeting called by PM Modi, spurs controversy

Kejriwal's "virus sent by China" remark comes against the backdrop of a large number of people believing that the virus could have either escaped from a laboratory or deliberately released from a laboratory by China. However, available studies said the virus is natural.

A recent study 'Pulse of the Pandemic' by Anhad and the P M Bhargava Foundation said that COVID-19 is not only a biological virus but becomes a societal virus as well, when the community acts to "stigmatise" sections of citizens or when the "othering" happens.

Also read — 1 out of 3 believe COVID-19 is man-made; 8 out of 10 say they won’t shake hands: Survey

While a large number of people surveyed for the study believed that people can recover from COVID-19, it said, when it comes to the question whether COVID-19 is natural or not, the opinion is divided as conspiracy theories have gained momentum.

According to the report based on a survey done in May, 41.7% of the 2,223 people who participated in the study said the virus is natural but a sizeable chunk – 31.89% believe it is man-made while 24.11% did not have a clue from where it came from.

Referring to United States President Donald Trump's assertions that Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of the virus, the report had said it was quite evident that when powerful politicians "propagate a conspiracy theory" it not only gets wide publicity but a large section of common citizens also start believing it.