NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday hit out at the Modi government over reports that China was settling 90 new villages along the Arunachal Pradesh border and accused it of putting India’s national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty at risk.
In a post on X, Kharge alleged that the priorities of the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were “PR stunts” and “false advertisements” and “not national security”.
“Narendra Modi ji, you are adopting the policy of giving a ‘red salute’ to China instead of showing ‘red eyes’. India’s national security, territorial sovereignty and integrity are paramount, the Modi government is putting it at risk,” he said in his post in Hindi.
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“Our allegation is made with great responsibility and is based on facts. China has started settling 90 new villages on the Arunachal border. Earlier, China had settled 628 such villages on our border, according to newspapers.
“The Modi government promotes the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ on the border a lot, you have exaggerated it in Parliament. But the truth is that 90% of the funds of the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ have not been spent in the last two years. This scheme was launched in February 2023 and out of the Rs 4,800 crore allocated fund, only Rs 509 crore has been spent,” he said.
The Congress chief said that in Himachal Pradesh, where 75 villages need to be improved, the Modi government at the Centre has given almost no funds for it.
Kharge claimed that in December 2024, China announced plans to build the ‘world’s largest dam’ on the Brahmaputra River, which could prove disastrous for our national security, environment and the north-eastern states.
The Brahmaputra River, he said, accounts for 30 per cent of India’s freshwater resources, making its flow vital to India.
The Congress president said according to a reply by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the Rajya Sabha in 2022, your government said that “in March 2021, China adopted its 14th Five-Year Plan, which mentions plans for hydropower projects in the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River”.
“This means that the Modi government was aware of this matter since 2021, but still, your government remained absolutely silent. It is clear…Modiji, your Government’s priority is PR stunts and false advertisements for itself, not the national security of India,” Kharge said citing news reports of China building 90 new villages along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. (PTI)
