Pralhad Joshi flays Rahul Gandhi over his claim about China usurped India's land

New Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday flayed Rahul Gandhi for claiming that China has usurped India's land and accused him of making "baseless allegations".

China grabbed India's land during the Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure as prime minister, he said.

Joshi’s reaction came after Gandhi termed as "very serious" the issue of China releasing a "standard map" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, and claimed the neighbouring country has already taken India's land in Ladakh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak on the issue.

"Rahul Gandhi’s allegations are baseless," Joshi told PTI.

He said Gandhi should understand that "whatever land that China has grabbed was during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru".

"They are doing some activities in the area that was grabbed during Nehru's tenure as prime minister. This is due to the sins committed by the Congress post-Independence that China has become our neighbour. From the time it was Tibet till today, these people pursued policies which led to this," Joshi said.

Rahul Gandhi "does not have any understanding" of the policies, he charged.

On Monday, Beijing released the 2023 edition of the so-called "standard map of China" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as regions within its borders.

"Our External Affairs Ministry has already condemned China's action on the map issue and has also strongly protested it. But he (Rahul Gandhi) does not trust our External Affairs Ministry. He believes in what China says," the Union minister said.

India on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with China over its so-called "standard map" laying claim over Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin, and asserted that such steps only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.

The External Affairs Ministry also rejected these claims as having "no basis".

"Just making absurd claims does not make other people's territories yours," External Affairs Minister Jaishankar told NDTV while reacting to the Chinese move.