Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Bahrain irresponsible: BJP

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday dubbed Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Bahrain as “irresponsible”, alleging that the Congress president was spreading “hatred” among Indians with his speeches abroad like he did in the country.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked the Congress chief over his last night’s address and contrasted it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to 270 Indian origin (PIO) parliamentarians, focusing on boosting ties between India and other countries.

Addressing a press conference, Prasad questioned Gandhi’s remarks in which he accused Modi government of pursuing a divisive agenda to hide its failures, and said they had expected that he would not harp on political differences and “spread hatred in a foreign country as he did in India”.

“The BJP strongly condemns Rahul Gandhi’s irresponsible utterances .... He is spreading hatred among people,” he said.

Hitting back at the Congress leader, the law minister wondered if the Congress’ stand on the triple talaq bill worked to spread love or hate in the society. He accused the Congress of failing to take a stand on an issue of woman’s respect and justice.

Gandhi’s father and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had committed a “sin” by passing a law under pressure from Muslim bodies to negate a Supreme Court order to provide alimony to Shah Bano after her husband divorced her, he said. The same Muslim body is now opposing the triple talaq bill, Prasad said, claiming that the Congress’ decision to stall it in Rajya Sabha was a case of double standards influenced by vote bank politics.

Citing Mudra loans given to tens of millions of people, rise in road construction works and opening of call centres in tier two cities, Prasad said this has led to creation of employment as he refuted Gandhi’s charge that the government had not created enough jobs.

Gandhi had Monday accused the government of dividing people on the basis of caste and religion, alleging it was converting the anger of jobless youth into hatred among communities. BEIJING: China on Tuesday skirted a direct response to Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s remarks that there was a major reduction of Chinese troops in Doklam, but insisted that its soldiers stationed in the area were exercising “sovereignty rights”. China and India were engaged in a 73-day tense standoff at Dokalam in the Sikkim sector which ended on August 28. “The Dong Lang (Dokalam) area has all along been part of China and under China’s continuous and effective jurisdiction.

There is no dispute in this regard,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media when asked about Rawat’s remarks.

Rawat yesterday said Indian and Chinese troops had resolved an issue over the recent attempt by Chinese teams to build a road on the Indian side of the border at Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh.

Rawat also said there was a major reduction of Chinese troops in the Dokalam area.

“Chinese border troops patrolling and stationing in the Dong Lang area are exercising sovereignty rights in accordance with the stipulations of historical conventions and upholding territorial sovereignty,” he said, without commenting on the troop reduction.

Lu also did not directly refer to Rawat’s comment that India and China have sorted out the issue relating to the plans of Chinese troops to construct a road well into the Indian territory at Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh in the last week of December. Lu reiterated China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing says is part of South Tibet. NEW DELHI: A video on Tuesday surfaced of troops from India and China shaking hands apparently to resolve a dispute at Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh where Chinese teams had attempted to build a road on the Indian side of the border.

In the video, an Indian officer is seen talking to Chinese military personnel to resolve the issue. After a brief conversation, the two personnel, accompanied by their respective colleagues, were seen shaking hands. On December 28, Indian troops had foiled attempts by Chinese road building teams to build a track around one kiolometre inside Indian territory in Tuting, government sources had said.