Later, Mani Shankar Aiyar “unconditionally apologised” for “mistakenly” using the word “allegedly” before the phrase “Chinese invasion”.
New Delhi: In the latest gaffe, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar referred to the 1962 India-China war as “alleged Chinese invasion” while narrating an anecdote.
Mani Shankar Aiyar was heard saying at an event in Delhi, “…in October 1962, the Chinese allegedly invaded India.”
Later Aiyar “unconditionally apologised” for “mistakenly” using the word “allegedly” before the phrase “Chinese invasion”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack on the Congress, calling it a “brazen attempt at revisionism”.
“Nehru gave up India’s claim to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council in favour of the Chinese, Rahul Gandhi signed a secret MoU, and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation accepted funds from the Chinese embassy and published a report recommending market access for Chinese companies, based on his and Sonia Gandhi’s recommendations,” BJP’s Amit Malviya said. “The UPA has opened up the Indian market to Chinese goods, hurting MSMEs, and now Congress leader Aiyar wants to whitewash Chinese invasion, as the Chinese have illegally occupied 38,000 sq km of Indian territory.”
While the gaffe led to a major controversy, the Congress distanced itself from the veteran leader’s statement.
“Mani Shankar Aiyar later apologised unconditionally for misusing the term ‘alleged invasion’. His age should be taken into account. The Congress distanced itself from his original statements. The Chinese invasion of India which began on October 20, 1962, was for Ladakh in early May 2020 in which 20 of our soldiers were martyred and the status quo was breached,” party leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X – formerly known as Twitter.
Mani Shankar Aiyar is not new to controversies. Earlier this month, a video of his old interview went viral in which he said that India should hold talks with Pakistan else the country may have to pay a heavy price.
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“India should respect Pakistan because it has the nuclear bomb! If we don’t respect them they will think of using the nuclear bomb against India,” Aiyar said.
The Congress leader’s remarks went viral days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several senior BJP leaders warned that the Indian Army would enter Pakistan to kill any terrorist escaping from Pakistan.
