Why is PM Modi running behind the Chinese prez for talks, asks Owaisi

Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday attacked the BJP, saying the ruling party should answer why PM Narendra Modi is "running behind the Chinese president for talks".

He said there should be a special session of Parliament to discuss, among others, the alleged loss of land on India's border with China.

"It was leaked that China wanted to talk. Officially, MEA should have given a statement after the talks of PM Modi and XI Jinping that these talks were held. Chinese Foreign Ministry says that PM wanted to have talks. Later, foreign secretary says something else," he told reporters.

Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a conversation in Johannesburg, India and China on Friday offered divergent views on which side sought the engagement -- with Indian sources saying that a Chinese request for a bilateral meeting is pending.

There was a pending request from the Chinese side for a bilateral meeting, sources in the Indian side said hours after the Chinese foreign ministry released a readout on the Modi-Xi conversation that said it was held at the Indian side's request.

Referencing this, Owaisi said he would like to ask the BJP why the PM is "running behind the Chinese president for talks".

"Why is the PM keeping the country in the dark on what is happening on Ladakh border?," Owaisi asked.

"What is the reason why the Modi government is putting pressure on our brave military that some solution be accepted," he further asked.

Saying that our brave military has been confronting China's military from the high mountains for the past 40 months, he alleged that it would be shameful if we we have lost territory and if the BJP-led government is "bending before China".

"The 2,000 sq km that we have lost is not BJP's private property. That is our country's land. It is an integral part of our country's security," he said. That is why he demands that a special session of Parliament be called, he added.

After the 1962 war, policy was decided that whenever something happens on the border, status quo ante should be be restored first and that is not happening, he claimed.

BJP should answer these questions, he said. Asked what should happen going forward, Owaisi said there should be no compromise on the country's land and that the Army should be allowed to take independent decisions.

On political front, the AIMIM leader said apart from the NDA and the newly formed INDIA alliance, the country needs a "third alternative".

When told that the INDIA alliance is also an alternative, he said the Congress was in power for 50 years and that BJP has been in power for 18 years. The country needs a government which is different from Congress and BJP, he said.

The Congress had supported the BJP in Parliament on UAPA legislation (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) in 2019, he said.

Owaisi alleged that INDIA alliance is a 'club of bade chaudharies' (elites). Those who are part of the opposition alliance abuse the AIMIM, he said. We will fight our own battle, he said.

He found fault with the film 'Kashmir Files' being given national integration award, alleging that hate atmosphere is triggered by it.

Inputs from PTI