NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday sharpened his attack on China, saying no country had the right to warn India. The warning came just a day after Beijing’s reaction to the proposed road project to link Tawang with Vijay Nagar. China had reacted to Indian government’s proposal, saying there was a dispute about the Eastern part of the Sino-Indian border. “Today, no country can issue a warning to India. We have emerged as a strong country in the world. As far as the Sino-Indian border issue is concerned, I think China should sit with India and resolve this issue,” Rajnath said on the sidelines of an NSG function.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Home Minister had reviewed the infrastructure situation along the China border, besides the issue of incursions.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lie had said, “Before a final settlement is reached, we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sought an additional budget of `2,000 crore, over and above the `28,000 crore allocated to the regions located along the China border, for repatriating the residents, especially those from Arunachal Pradesh, of the border areas. The fund is to build schools, hospitals, village roads, ration shops etc. to make the life easy for villagers in the treacherous terrain.
The MHA is also examining the key areas along the border and a map is being drawn up by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to deploy troops accordingly.
WMCC Begins
Indian and Chinese officials on Thursday discussed the recent incursions by Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army(PLA) troops in Ladakh during the two-day meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination(WMCC) on Sino-Indian border that got under way here.
This is the first meeting of the WMCC after the new government came to power. The decision to hold the meeting so early was taken after the understanding reached to disengage from the eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Demchok and Chumar last month.
In line with precedence, a statement is expected to be released on Friday at the end of the talks.