Kejriwal slams Modi government over "rewarding" China's incursions

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Indian government is rewarding China over border tensions instead of punishing them. He alleged that the BJP government is trying to create a narrative that everything is fine while Chinese aggression is increasing along the de facto border.

He was speaking at the national council meeting of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. The party chief was referring to last week's face-off in the Tawang sector when Chinese troops tried to enter Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Army stopped the attempt but the conflict resulted in injuries on both sides.

Kejriwal asked why India continues to buy goods from China when the neighbouring nation continuously attacks our borders. "We continue to increasingly buy goods from China. Why?" He noted that India bought goods worth $65 billion from China in 2020-2021. The next year, Chinese aggression increased but India bought goods worth $95 billion. " Can we not increase indigenous manufacturing manifold?"

He also alleged that the BJP government doesn't care about the lives of Indian soldiers.

The Delhi CM on Sunday called for a ban on trade with China and urged Indians to do the same. "I appeal to everyone to stop buying Chinese goods. I also want to appeal to the centre to not bow down before China."

He pointed out that India is expanding its commerce with China but Beijing has been threatening India for the last few years. Kejriwal further praised the Indian Army for "bravely fighting" the Chinese and pointed out that people's knowledge about China's occupation of Indian territories comes from social media.

The Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh borders China's south and Beijing claims it is part of its territory. Chinese maps show Arunachal Pradesh as part of China and refer to it as Zangnana or South Tibet. China claims 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh, which happens to be the entire state, as its territory.