The Congress on Saturday questioned the Modi Government's "silence" over the reports that China has built shelters in the Depsang area in Ladakh and asked what steps were being taken by it to ensure status quo ante of April 2020.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Indonesia last month.
There was no immediate reaction from the government to the Congress' allegations.
While the Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the border issues with China, officials have maintained that India has significantly enhanced its border infrastructure in recent years with Centre giving a major boost to such efforts following eastern Ladakh standoff. "On November 15, Modi had met Xi Jinping, the Chinese head of state. He was not showing angry red eyes, he was in fact adorning a red shirt and I wonder what he talked about as he met Xi Jinping after the supreme sacrifice of 20 of our bravehearts," Shrinate said at a AICC press conference.
Citing media reports, she said that in the area of Depsang, China has built temperature-regulated "shelters" that help any army personnel to be stationed permanently.
"Two hundred such shelters have been built by China in our territory 15-18 km inside the LAC (Line of Actual Control)," she alleged.
Why has there not been a single statement from Prime Minister Modi, his government or the Ministry of External Affairs, Shrinate asked.
Posing questions for the prime minister, Shrinate asked why the prime minister is "looking in the other direction when permanent shelters and fortifications are being built in the Demchok and the Depsang areas". What steps are being taken to remove these fortifications and structures, she asked.