Twenty Indian soldiers died after a fierce clash with the Chinese army personnel at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh earlier this month.
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that his remark that 'nobody intruded into the Indian territory' made him popular in China.
Addressing a press conference, the former Maharashtra chief minister said that China's incursion into Ladakh was a matter of "deep concern", but Modi's 'no intrusion' remark benefited the neighbouring country.
He also alleged that his remark demoralised the Indian armed forces.
Twenty Indian soldiers died after a fierce clash with the Chinese army personnel at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh earlier this month.
During an all-party meeting held last week, the PM had said that neither is anyone inside our territory nor has any Indian post been captured.
However, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had later said that the focus of Modi's remarks at the meeting was the events of June 15 at Galwan that led to the loss of lives of 20 Indian military personnel.
"The prime minister's observations that there was no Chinese presence on our side of the LAC pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces," the PMO had said.
Referring to Modi's comment, Chavan said, "China praised the Indian PM for his statement and he has become popular in that country."
"But the PM's statement is not acceptable to the Congress. The PMO tried to justify it, but that was not enough. The government should come out with a clarification on his remark," he added.
"It is expected that the PM, while speaking on such a big and serious issue, should be more responsible, but that has not happened. It is the duty of the opposition to ask questions to the government and giving reply to those queries is the constitutional duty of the government," he said.
"Any decision taken by the government in view of the safety of the country will be supported by the Congress. But PM Modi's statement that China has not infiltrated on the Indian soil has proved to be beneficial to China and also left a major impact at the international level," Chavan said.
"We are concerned over the Chinese intrusion in Galwan valley and are proud of our jawans stationed at the borders. Protecting the borders and preventing intrusion is the main responsibility of the government. Congress has been raising this issue but the government had neglected it," he said.
Chavan alleged that there were divergent views on the Galwan valley incident even within the government.
"The foreign minister admitted the presence of Chinese soldiers and construction activities along the Indian side of the Line of Actual control (LAC). But, at the all party meeting, Modi said that there was no intrusion," he said.
Chavan said that former PM Manmohan Singh advised Modi that nothing should be said that would give strength to China.
"He made it clear that it was the duty of the opposition to question the government when the country is facing a crisis and the government should respond adequately," Chavan said.
The Congress leader claimed that as per the satellite images, Chinese soldiers were constructing tents within the Indian territory.
"Army vehicles and bulldozers are visible in the satellite images. There are 10,000 Chinese soldiers in the Galwan valley. We want to know how many times China intruded in Galwan valley and why did Modi say that there was no intrusion. Has India's power to negotiate diminished due to these comments?" he asked.
"PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met 19 times in six years, but it looks like that those meetings have not benefited India at all...Our foreign policy seems to be wrong. So far, we had managed to keep China in check, but today the situation is not the same," Chavan added.
He said the Congress launched a state-wide agitation on Friday to seek answers to key issues from the government and also paid tributes to the 20 martyred soldiers.
Earlier in the day, state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat and his cabinet as well as senior party colleagues staged a peaceful agitation at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi near Mantralaya in Mumbai over the Centre's handling of the China issue.
As part of the state-wide agitation, 'Shahidon Ko Salaam' day was observed.
An online campaign #SpeakUpForOurJawans was also launched by the party.
