Chinese buildup close to Doklam a grave security threat: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday expressed concern over the reported Chinese buildup close to the Doklam plateau, and said it poses a grave security threat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should break his "silence" on the issue.

In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Modi government has failed to restore the status quo ante on the Line of Actual Control for three years and urged the Union home minister to restore it instead of making "misleading claims".

"The Indian Army has expressed fresh and serious concern at the Chinese military build-up close to the Doklam plateau. Here is my statement on this grave security threat that even Parliament has been prevented from discussing for almost three years now," he said on Twitter while sharing his statement.

The Indian Army has expressed fresh and serious concern at the Chinese military build-up close to the Doklam plateau. Here is my statement on this grave security threat that even Parliament has been prevented from discussing for almost 3 years now. pic.twitter.com/fJ02QTEomr

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 12, 2023

He said that according to a recent news report, the Indian armed forces have expressed concern about a major Chinese military buildup close to the Doklam plateau.

"These developments represent a clear threat to India's national security," he said in the statement.

Citing the March 9 statement of Home Minister Amit Shah that "we will not allow anyone to take even an inch" of Indian territory, Ramesh said, "Yet the reality is that China prevented our troops from accessing 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory after May 2020." He claimed that even today, Chinese patrols block our access to numerous patrolling points in Depsang, Demchok, Hot Springs (Kungrang Nalla) and Gogra Post.

"The Modi government has failed for three years to restore the status quo ante on the Line of Actual Control. We request the Home Minister to restore the status quo rather than make bombastic and misleading statements inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's infamous claim that 'Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai'.

"We are fully confident in the ability of the Indian armed forces to repel any Chinese misadventure, as they did in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh on 9 December 2022. But when will the prime minister break his eloquent silence on China, after having given it a clean chit in 2020? Or will his longstanding links to China, including those of his close friends the Adanis, prove too strong for him to comment at all," Ramesh asked.

The Congress has been demanding a discussion on the border situation with China.