Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation with China. In a tweet, Gandhi claimed that while the prime minister says the Chinese Army did not enter Indian territory during a violent clash with its Indian counterpart on June 15, the people of Ladakh hold a different view of the matter.

“Ladakhis say, China took our land,” Gandhi tweeted. “PM says: Nobody took our land. Obviously, someone is lying.” Gandhi tweeted a video showing residents of Ladakh accusing China of occupying territory. The Congress also shared the video on its official handle.

At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed and 76 wounded in the clash on June 15, in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, along the Line of Actual Control. China too admitted to losing personnel, but did not specify a number.

The Congress leader’s attack came on the day that Modi visited Indian troops in Leh, Ladakh, and gave a speech praising their bravery, asserting that all Indians were proud of them. The prime minister also said that the “enemy” had seen the “fire and fury” of India’s soldiers, and that “expansionists” always lose, in an indirect reference to China.

Gandhi has been attacking Modi and the Centre over the past three weeks following the Ladakh clash. On June 30, he criticised Modi’s address to the country, in which the prime minister spoke about the coronavirus pandemic. Gandhi implied, through an Urdu poem, that the prime minister had once again avoided talking about the tensions with China.

On June 21, Gandhi accused Modi of “surrendering” to China, after the prime minister claimed that no Chinese troops had intruded into Indian territory. A few days later, the Congress leader tweeted a graph showing that Chinese imports had risen since 2014, when the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power.

Chidambaram lashes out at Modi

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that Modi once again avoided mentioning China during his speech in Ladakh. “For the third time in a week, PM did not name China as the aggressor, why?” he tweeted. “What is the purpose of talking about an unnamed ‘enemy’ to the people of India and the jawans in Ladakh?”

Chidambaram added that the government has failed to answer Congress’ questions on satellite images that showed Chinese troops occupying Indian territory. Chidambaram also wondered whether Modi, in his interactions with United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, had named China as the intruder.