BJP, Rahul in war of words over claims of land being ‘conceded’
NEW DELHI: The Union government and leaders from the Bharatiya Janaya Party (BJP) on Friday hit out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for raising questions over the agreement between India and China on troop disengagement in eastern Ladakh, and called his comment an attempt to dampen the morale of the military.
Minister of state for home affairs G Kishan Reddy said the Congress MP should question his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru who “gave India’s land to China”.
Reddy was responding to Gandhi’s comments earlier on Friday that “the PM has given away sacred Indian territory to China”, and that the Indian Army held Finger 4 area in Ladakh along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) but now it will move back to its permanent position near Finger 3.
“He must ask his great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) about who has given India’s territory to China, he will get the answer. Who is a patriot and who is not, the public knows it
all,” Reddy said.
In a press briefing, Gandhi raised questions about the disengagement a day after Union defence minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will retreat to its base east of Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso and the Indian Army will move back to its permanent position near Finger 3.
“Indian government’s position was status quo ante in April 2020. Now, defence minister comes and makes a statement. We find Indian troops will now be stationed in Finger 3. Finger 4 used to be our territory. Why has PM Modi given our land to the Chinese?” Gandhi asked.
“Why they have been asked to move back? There is no word on our most strategic area of Depsang plains. The government is mum on Gogra post and Hot Springs. PM Modi has stooped before China and given away the land between Finger 3 and Finger 4 to the Chinese,” he said.
“There is no strategic advantage. Chinese were in our land. Our soldiers risked everything they had to go to Kailash ranges. Now PM has given back land and status quo ante is irrelevant. This is absolute 100% cowardice. The Prime Minister is a coward who can’t stand up to the Chinese,” Gandhi added.
The Union defence ministry said in a statement that contrary to certain misleading reports being circulated, India had not ceded any territory as a result of the disengagement agreement.
Senior BJP leader and Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accused Gandhi, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Wayanad, of demoralising the Indian security forces. “There is no cure if they (the Congress) are engaged in conspiracy to defame the country... they are trying to break the morale of the security forces,” Naqvi said.
This is not the first time that the BJP and the Congress have sparred over defence and strategic issues. The BJP has in the past accused the Congress in general and Gandhi in particular of disrespecting the forces, their defence preparedness and raising doubts about operations.
In December 2018, Gandhi said that the Indian Army had conducted three surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power but those operations were kept under wraps at the force’s insistence and accused the BJP government of turning a targeted September 2016 operation into a “political asset” to garner votes during the Uttar Pradesh elections.
The BJP retorted by accusing him of insulting Indian soldiers. In response to Gandhi’s comment, the then BJP chief Amit Shah dubbed the statement as “an insult to the martyrs” of Uri.
NEW DELHI: India’s internet economy is set to attract massive investments as several players such as food-delivery startup Zomato, courier service provider Delhivery, Walmart-owned Flipkart, and e-tailer Nykaa are expected to enter the public market in 2021.
“More than $60 billion has been invested in India’s internet startups in the past five years, with around $12 billion in 2020 alone. Many of these leaders, which operate businesses are now on the cusp of listing,” HSBC Global Research said in a February 2021 report.
In a January report, Citi Research said that it expects IPOS to accelerate in 2021, aided by improving profitability and scale in various verticals. Internet sub-segments such as e-commerce and edtech, combined with penetration of wireless subscribers and improved quality by telecom operators are likely to drive growth, analysts said.
Analysts at HSBC estimate that the total value of the country’s internet economy could cross $180 billion by 2025, while analysts at Citi Research estimate the market to be worth $639 billion by 2030.
E-commerce is expected to lead the growth in the internet economy. Analysts said while Amazon.com Inc and Flipkart dominate the space with 80% market share, India’s e-commerce is still evolving. The entry of Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Platforms Ltd, with its online retail business, could stiffen competition and threaten existing players.
Jio Platforms houses RIL’S telecom business Jio and a slew of other digital services such as online grocery delivery, healthcare, payments, gaming, cloud. Citi Research said that it expects public market listings to accelerate in 2021, aided by improving profitability and scale in various verticals, OTT content, music, video conferencing, etc.
Mint had on 18 January reported that Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd plans to embed its e-commerce app Jiomart into Whatsapp within six months, allowing the 400 million users of India’s most popular messaging service to order products without having to leave the app.
“Jio is set to emerge as a significant threat, along with multiple vertical e-commerce players and hundreds of brands that are now delivering direct to consumers. We believe Reliance Jio, a relative newcomer, will become a stronger competitor, because of its offline retail presence (over 12,000 stores across 7,000 cities),” HSBC said.