BJP on Friday rejected Rahul Gandhi's charge that China has encroached on Indian territory as baseless and absurd, as it asserted that it is the opposition party which has committed «historic, unpardonable crime» in dealings with Beijing.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi quoted from selected works of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to say that his government had sent over 3,500 tonnes of rice in 1952 for the consumption of the Chinese Army which was «starving». He also asked the Congress to release its reported agreement with the Chinese Communist Party when the UPA was in power.
Addressing a press conference, he alleged that the decision to send rice for the Chinese Army when India's relations with China had started getting strained was not a mistake but a «historic and unpardonable» crime.
Gandhi has a habit of making baseless and absurd comments about China, he said, adding that the former Congress president makes remarks on India, its people and the RSS in a similar vein.
During the Doklam crisis, he had met the Chinese ambassador, Trivedi said.
The BJP leader asserted the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has notched up unprecedented success in its handling of India's military, diplomatic and economic affairs.
The Congress has always tried to weaken the country when in the opposition, he said and asked the party to learn from the BJP which supported the then governments during crisis involving neighbours be it Pakistan or China.
While the Congress government refused to punish Pakistan for its support to terrorism as it thought that this will harm peace talks, Modi's policy is that terror and talks cannot go together.