New Delhi, April 11: Refuting all reports of India lost a "substantial" amount of land to China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh affirmed that no one can occupy even an inch of Indian land under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

Reacting to the reports of Chinese construction near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), he said that both countries are independent in carrying out construction on their side of the LAC.

On being asked if China has occupied any piece of Indian land, the Defence Minister said, "I don't think so".
"Commander-level talks are going on between India and China," Singh said in an exclusive interview with ANI. "There are some issues, some date back to 2013, which need to be resolved."

He further said that both countries are holding talks with the belief that a resolution will be reached.

"When talks take place between two countries, it is not easy to determine the time frame by when will we get the results, but both countries are holding talks with the belief that we will reach a resolution," the Defence Minister said.

"On the issues that we are discussing, if they (China) agree, then I don't think there is a reason for distrust," he added.

The two countries have been in a military standoff for the last three years since May 2020, when the Chinese tried to aggressively alter the status quo on the Line of Actual Control.

India and China held the 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) last month.

The two countries exchanged views on ways of achieving complete disengagement and resolving the issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas.

The former Chief Minister slammed the Congress party over its manifesto promising "restoring of status quo ante" on borders with China while stating that 1000 square kilometres of land were lost under the Congress rule.
He further affirmed that "not an inch" of land can be captured by anyone under the Modi government.

"I can only wonder that Congress government can do this. I wouldn't like to comment on what happened under their rule, how many 1000 square kilometres of the land went into Chinese possession. But, I want to assure the countrymen that under PM Modi-led government, no one can capture even an inch of our land and we won't cede even an inch of our land," Singh further said.

Regarding the report claiming that China has constructed a 'model village' and defence posts on the Chinese side of the LAC and renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said that both countries can undertake construction on their side of the LAC.

He, however, added that while both countries can undertake construction on their side of the LAC, peace should be maintained between the two nations.

"On the land falling on that side (Chinese side) of the LAC, if some construction is done or some posts are built. What can I do about that? They can do it on that side of LAC and we can do it on this side of the LAC," Singh said.

"We are also carrying out construction. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and other organisations have also done much construction near the border. I will accept that they have done and we have also done (construction). They develop on their side, we on our side, but peace should be maintained between the two countries, and efforts for this should be made by both countries," he added.

Recently, China again came up with its claim over the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Terming the Indian State as "Zangan--an inherent part of China's territory," the Chinese Defence Ministry said that Beijing "never acknowledges and firmly opposes" the "so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India."

Following this, India once again rejected the "absurd claims" and "baseless arguments" while asserting that the northeastern state is an "integral and inalienable part of India."

(ANI)

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