Should be sending alarm bells: Asaduddin Owaisi on China map row and border preps in Aksai Chin
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AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday, shared a report about China digging tunnels and constructing bunkers in Aksai Chin, saying that the preparations on the border “should be sending alarm bells within the government”.
He said that India's response “cannot be weak and timid” as China ramps up the construction in Aksai Chin to better protect military assets from aerial or missile strikes.
“We need to stand up to China. But we have a PM who can’t call out China by name and a government that stalls all discussions in Parliament on the subject”, Owaisi wrote in a post on X.
Satellite images had shown reinforced personnel bunkers at three locations and tunnelling activity at three more locations, all within an area of roughly 15 sq km, reports the Hindustan Times.
“These new revelations about the border demand a special session of Parliament to discuss the border crisis and India’s China policy. Whether it be Manipur or Ladakh, keeping the Indian public in dark has worked and is going to work to our disadvantage”, the Hyderabad MP further added.
The development comes at a time when China has released the 2023 edition of its “standard map”, which shows Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory.
Hours after the release of the map, India on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with China asserting that such steps only “complicate the resolution of the boundary question”.
"We have today lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so called 2023 'standard map' of China that lays claim to India's territory," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
"We reject these claims as they have no basis," he added.
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also reacted to China’s territorial claims.
“China has even in the past put out maps which claim the territories which are not China’s, which belong to other countries. This is an old habit of theirs. It is not something which is new. It started in the 1950s," he said, speaking at a media event.
Also Read: Satellite images show China digging tunnels, building bunkers for troops in Aksai Chin