From Pangong Lake, Rahul Gandhi raises China issue: ‘Grazing land taken away’

Raking up India-China border issues, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said people of Ladakh have been affected in a big way as their grazing land has been occupied by the neighbouring country.

Gandhi asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that no one entered the Indian side of the line of actual control was untrue and can be confirmed by anyone in the area.

“Here, the concern is of course the land that has been taken away by China. People have been affected in a big way because their grazing land has been taken away,” Gandhi told reporters standing near the Pangong Lake.

“PM said that not an inch of land was taken away, but this is not true, you can ask anyone here,” he added. Congress media and publicity head Pawar Khera thanked the former party chief for raising the issue.

“Any other Prime Minister would have gone to these areas and sent a loud signal to China. Our PM whimpered a clean chit. Thank you @RahulGandhi for sending out the much required message to China and the world. This is our land,” Khera posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday rode a motorcycle from Leh to Pangong Lake in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Gandhi reached Leh on a two-day visit on Thursday, later deciding to extend his stay in the region to cover Pangong Lake, Nubra Valley and Kargil district.

“During Bharat Jodo Yatra, I was supposed to come to Ladakh but due to some logistical reasons, we couldn’t come. I thought let me come and do a slightly detailed tour of Ladakh. I thought I would listen to what the people have to say, what their concerns are,” Gandhi told reporters.

“There were so many complaints from the people of Ladakh, they are not happy with the (UT) status that has been given to them, they want representation and there is a problem of unemployment…people are saying that the state should not be run by bureaucracy but the state must be run by the voice of people,” he added.