NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the LAC standoff in Ladakh was not merely a border issue but a Chinese attempt to undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “chhappan inch image”.
In another video attacking the government for the Chinese intrusions into India, Gandhi said, “LAC standoff is not simply a border issue. It is a border issue designed to put pressure on the Prime Minister of India. And they (China) are thinking of putting pressure in a very particular way. And what they are doing, is that they are attacking his image. They understand that in order for Narendra Modi to be an effective politician; in order for Mr Narendra Modi to survive as a politician, he has to protect the idea of ‘Chhapan Inch’.”
Gandhi said the “real idea” behind the Chinese aggression is to tell PM Modi that if he did not do what they say, they will destroy the idea of Modi as a strong leader.
“Now the question is, how will Narendra Modi react. Will he take them on? Will he take on the challenge and say absolutely not, I’m the Prime Minister of India. I do not care about my image, I’m going to take you on. Or will he succumb to them?“ asked Gandhi.
He alleged that so far the Prime Minister has succumbed.
“The worry I have is, the Chinese are sitting in our territory today and the Prime Minister has said publicly that they are not, which to me tells me that he is worried about his image and he is defending his image. And if he allows the Chinese to understand that they can manipulate him because of his image, the Indian Prime Minister will no longer be worth anything for India,” Gandhi said.
The former Congress president also said Chinese don’t do anything without thinking about it strategically.
“In their mind, they have mapped out the world and they are trying to shape the world. That’s the scale of what they are doing. That’s what Gwadar is, that is what Belt and Road is. It is a restructuring of the planet. So when you’re thinking about the Chinese you have to understand that, that’s the level at which they are thinking,” Congress leader said.