Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday found himself in an embarrassing situation after he said that he doesn't have details about Doklam, even though the Opposition parties have been targetting government over the issue.
Addressing the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Gandhi said that "Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event".
Doklam standoff with China was not an "isolated issue" but part of a "sequence of events" and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was carefully watching the process, India could have stopped it, Gandhi said.
However, to a question on how he would have handled it, Gandhi said, “I do not have details of Doklam so I cannot answer how I would have handled it differently.”
On July 10th, Rahul Gandhi had said that it is his job to be informed on critical issues. "I met the Chinese Ambassador, Ex-NSA, Congress leaders from NE & the Bhutanese Ambassador," he tweeted.
Hitting back, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said if you don’t know about Doklam than why cannot you keep quiet Rahulji.”
"Rahul Gandhi fumbled and said he didn’t have details, so can’t comment... One wonders then on what basis has he been criticising?," Tweeted Amit Malviya.
Rahul is also a member of the parliamentary committee on external affairs which had examined various aspects of Stand-off between India and China in Doklam.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha last month that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area.
"Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the face-off site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh had said.
Tensions between India and China reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in Doklam near Bhutan over Beijing's construction of a road in the area. The standoff ended after both sides agreed to disengage, and there have been no confirmed or official reports of China resuming any activities since then.
