In London, Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi, says 'Chinese still in Doklam'

In first major speech on a global platform, Congress President Rahul Gandhi today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that ‘Chinese are still in Doklam.’

Gandhi made the statement during his address at the International Institute of Social Science (IISS), London. 

‘Doklam is not an isolated issue. It was a part of a sequence of events, it was a process. Prime Minister is episodic. He views Doklam as an event. If he was carefully watching the process, he could've stopped it,’ Gandhi said.

Gandhi’s London address on this major foreign policy issue will have far-reaching ramifications. 

The Congress president is on a trip to Europe. Earlier, he spent two days in Germany. Gandhi is now is scheduled to address the students of the London School of Economics tonight and then the Indian Overseas Congress a day after.

Earlier, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh had told the 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. 

This is not the first time that the issue of Chinese presence in Doklam has been raised. In July, a US Congresswoman had claimed that China has "quietly resumed" its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. New Delhi had, however, denied the claim.