Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday attacked Rahul Gandhi after the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha raised the issue of alleged encroachment of Indian territory by China.

Thakur said those who talk about India and China drank soup with the Chinese, also asserting that “not a single inch" of Indian land was lost to China.

Slamming Gandhi, the Union Minister said that politicising such issues would not yield anything.

His response came after Rahul Gandhi, in the lower House today, claimed that China took control of 4,000 sq km of Indian land.

He also asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu wrote a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“There should be status quo, and we should get our land back," Gandhi said.

“It is a known fact that China is sitting on 4,000 sq km of our territory. I was shocked to see, sometime back, that our Foreign Secretary was cutting a cake with the Chinese Ambassador," Rahul Gandhi said.

“The question is, what exactly is happening to this territory," LoP Gandhi said.

“We are not against normalcy, but normalcy needs to be preceded by status quo. Our land should be restored to us," he added.

“It has also come to my knowledge that the Prime Minister and President have written to the Chinese. We are finding this out not from our people but from the Chinese ambassador," Gandhi claimed.

Also speaking on the tariffs imposed by the United States on India, Rahul Gandhi said, “You have given China 4,000 sq km of land. On the other side, our ally has decided to levy tariffs on us. This will completely devastate us. What is the government of India doing about our land and what will you do on the issue of tariffs."

In response, Anurag Thakur asked, “During whose time did China take control of the area? Who were the people who were sipping soup with Chinese officials during the Doklam standoff? Why did the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation take money from the Chinese?"
“Indian forces responded effectively to the Chines,e and not a single inch of land has been lost," Thakur said.

“Doing politics on an issue like this will not yield anything, but they (Congress) have to answer to the people of the country about the mistakes of the past," Thakur said.

The Lok Sabha gathered hours after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was eventually passed in the lower House in the early hours of Thursday. The Bill was approved by the Lower House with a majority of 288 votes against 232.