Rajnath Singh said he will inform the countrymen on India-China standoff in parliament (File)

New Delhi:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday responded to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s poetic jibe at Home Minister Amit Shah with an improvised version of an Urdu poet’s creation.

Mr Shah, at a virtual rally on Sunday, said that the surgical and air strikes after the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama showed that India’s defence policy was strong and the country knows how to protect its borders.

“India’s defence policy has gained global acceptance. The whole world agrees that after US and Israel if there is any other country that is able to protect its borders, it is India,” Mr Shah had said.

Mr Gandhi on Monday shared his remark on Twitter with an improvisation of legendary Urdu-Persian poet Mirza Ghalib’s creation, apparently referring to the India-China standoff in Ladakh.

“Everyone knows the reality of ‘Seema‘ (Border) but to keep the heart happy, ‘Shah-yad’ it is a good idea,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted sarcastically.

सब को मालूम है ‘सीमा’ की हक़ीक़त लेकिन,
दिल के ख़ुश रखने को, ‘शाह-यद’ ये ख़्याल अच्छा है।https://t.co/cxo9mgQx5K

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 8, 2020

Hours later Mr Singh responded to Mr Gandhi’s barb. “When there is a pain in the hand then get treatment, but what should one do when the hand is the pain itself,” he tweeted. ‘Hand’ is the symbol of Mr Gandhi’s party- the Congress.

मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब का ही शेर थोड़ा अलग अन्दाज़ में है। ‘

‘हाथ’ में दर्द हो तो दवा कीजै,
‘हाथ’ ही जब दर्द हो तो क्या कीजै.. https://t.co/k1fhnI6K4N

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 8, 2020

The couplet was authored by 20th century poet Manzar Lakhnavi. Mr Singh improvised by replacing ‘heart’ with ‘hand’.

The stand-off in eastern Ladakh is in at least five key areas where India and China have had traditional differences on the perception of the Line of Actual Control in the region. The present tension between the two sides came into sharp focus when reports of skirmishes between the soldiers of both sides were reported in the Pangong Lake region on May 5 and May 6.

India and China have agreed to “peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements”, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

“Several leaders of the Congress are asking what is happening at the border. I want to assure the people of the country that I will give the details in parliament,” Mr Singh tweeted.