India-China border row: EAM Jaishankar rebukes Rahul Gandhi for 'pitai' remark on Indian soldiers

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the choice of words used in recent remarks on the threat of war from China. The Congress MP had accused the government of ignoring the threat, saying that China was preparing for war. 

Gandhi used the word ‘pitai’ while referring to Indian soldiers when he commented on the recent clash with Chinese troops on the Tawang border area in Arunachal Pradesh. Talking on the issue in Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said that political criticism is not a problem but soldiers shouldn’t be “directly or indirectly”. He added that Jawans do not “deserve” the word Gandhi used.

“We have no problems if there are political differences, even if there is political criticism. I have heard sometimes that my own understanding needs to be deepened. When I see who is giving the advice, I can only bow and respect, but I think we shouldn`t directly or indirectly criticise our jawans. Our jawans are standing in Yangtse at 13,000 feet, defending our border, they do not deserve to have the word ‘pitai’. The word ‘pitai’ shouldn’t be used for our jawans,” Jaishankar was quoted to have said.

This comes after Gandhi had also targeted Jaishankar last week, saying that the “external affairs minister keeps giving statements, but he should deepen his understanding” in reference to the Tawang clash. 

The India China border row disrupted the proceedings of the Parliament all last week. The opposition demanded discussion on the Tawang clash and accused the government of ignoring it. The BJP and some union minister's alleged that the Opposition was demoralising the army by politicising an issue of national security. 

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(With inputs from IANS)