Congress leader reacts after US general's remarks on China's LAC infra build-up
General Charles A Flynn, Commanding General, US Army Pacific, reportedly described Chinese activity near Ladakh is "eye-opening" and “alarming”.
Congress national spokesperson Shama Mohamed on Wednesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lack of acknowledgement of Chinese activity along the LAC near Ladakh even as General Charles A Flynn, Commanding General, US Army Pacific, reportedly described it as "eye-opening and alarming".
"Chinese activity near Ladakh is eye-opening & infrastructure being created is alarming, Charles A Flynn, a top US General says. China's territorial aggression against India is alarming the world, but our own PM has yet not even acknowledged that China has stolen our land!" Mohamed tweeted.
Flynn, who is on a visit to India, said, “The (Chinese) activity level is eye-opening. Some of the infrastructure being created in the PLA’s Western Theatre Command is alarming. One has to ask the question ‘why’, and get a response as to what are their intentions.”
Flynn was responding to a question on the overall situation in the Ladakh theatre while interacting with a small group of journalists.
There were reports that a Chinese bridge was being constructed across the Pangong Lake, a key infrastructure build-up that has profound military implications for the Indian Army.
Flynn's statement comes days after India and China didn’t make much headway in another round of diplomatic talks on the standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), agreeing only to continue discussions on outstanding issues and to convene the next meeting of senior military commanders at an early date.
The disengagement and de-escalation process between India and China has been deadlocked since the two sides pulled back frontline troops from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake in February last year and from Gogra in August 2021. There has been no forward movement on disengagement at key friction points such as Hot Springs and Depsang.
The two sides agreed that, as instructed by the two foreign ministers, they “should continue the discussions through diplomatic and military channels to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC at the earliest so as to create conditions for the restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
Flynn also held talks with Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande on Tuesday and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari CAS on Wednesday on ways to boost military cooperation.
"Issues of mutual interest and ways to enhance bilateral defence cooperation were discussed," the Indian Air Force (IAF) tweeted.
Flynn also met the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General BS Raju.
The two officers discussed various aspects of mutual interest, according to an official.
Flynn's visit to India comes amid a geopolitical turmoil triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Officials said ways to expand the military cooperation between the two sides figured prominently at General Flynn's meetings in Delhi.
