Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continued his attack on the government over the China row (File)

New Delhi:

India will pay a “huge price because of the government’s cowardly actions”, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted Saturday afternoon as he continued his relentless criticism of the centre over the violence in Ladakh last month and the subsequent India-China border face-off.

Mr Gandhi, who has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “surrendering” to Chinese aggression along the border, said: “China has taken our land and the Government of India is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China”.

The Congress leader also attached a short video of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to soldiers in Ladakh on Friday. In the clip, Mr Singh says that while there is no guarantee talks can resolve tensions, “not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world”.

The Prime Minister made similar statements during his visit last month.

China has taken our land and GOI is behaving like Chamberlain. This will further embolden China.

India is going to pay a huge price because of GOI’s cowardly actions. pic.twitter.com/5ewIFvj5wy

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 18, 2020

However, the Congress has remained unconvinced by the government’s statements and handling of this matter, pointing repeatedly to a comment by the Prime Minister at June’s all-party meeting.

PM Modi had said: “Neither is anyone inside our territory nor are any of our posts captured”. His office issued a clarification but the Congress interpreted this to mean territory had been yielded to China.

Rahul Gandhi’s “Chamberlain” reference was to the late former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who followed a policy of appeasement towards Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The policy, seen by many since as an ill-advised move, allowed Hitler to expand his territory under agreements that saw Britain concede Sudetenland, the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia.

Meant to buy Britain time to recover from World War I, the policy broke down after Hitler violated the deal to occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia. Six months on, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began.

Mr Gandhi has been tweeting regularly since 20 Indian soldiers were killed by China in the Galwan Valley region of eastern Ladakh. He has also regularly asked if Indian territory was, in fact, ceded to China after that clash and skirmishes around the Pangong Lake region in May.

The claim appeared to be backed by satellite images acquired by NDTV that showed China had intruded 423 metres into Indian territory. 

Following high-level military talks a mutual disengagement took place, with each side conceding two kilometres. However, the decision prompted opposition leaders to ask why Indian soldiers were being withdrawn from Indian territory.

Last week Mr Gandhi referred to a report from an online news outlet, titled “Government Misleading Media on Chinese Disengagement Along LAC”; a day earlier he accused the Prime Minister of deceiving the nation.