In a new twist in the current India-China border dispute, a leading Indian political leader and former Defense Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Wednesday claimed that China has installed the nuclear bomb on Pakistan soil and is fully prepared to attack India.
"Today, India has immense threat from China. China is conspiring against India, taking Pakistan under its fold. I have been informed that China has installed nuclear bomb on Pakistani soil. China has prepared fully to attack India," Yadav told the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament).
"India is today facing a big danger from China. I have been cautioning the central government for years. China has joined hands with Pakistan. It has made full preparation to attack India," said the 77-year-old political leader.
Yadav said India's stand on Tibet, a reference to its acceptance that the region was part of China, was a "mistake" and the time has come to support its independence.
Tensions on the India-China border have escalated in recent weeks with both New Delhi and Beijing refusing to back down from their positions. What started as a cross-border dispute which centered on China's construction of a road project has now snowballed into something bigger.
Sikkim Standoff
Chinese and Indian soldiers
have been locked in a face- off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for
over a month after Indian troops reportedly stopped the Chinese army from
building a road in the disputed area.
China said that they were constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau.
New Delhi has expressed concern over the alleged road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India's access to its northeastern states.
India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it, according to the Press Trust of India.
Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
China has reiterated its calls for India to withdraw troops from a disputed territory in the Himalayan mountains, to avoid an "escalation of the situation." It comes after China recently staged live-fire drills in the region.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang urged India to withdraw its troops from the area near the Chinese, Indian and Bhutanese borders.
"We have stated many times that we hope the Indian side will get a clear understanding of the situation (and) immediately take measures to withdraw the troops that illegally crossed the border back to the Indian side of the border," Lu said.
He went on to state that Indian troops must withdraw before any talks can take place over the disputed territory.
China moves huge military hardware into Tibet
Meanwhile, the Chinese Army moved tens of thousands of tons of military hardware into the remote mountainous Tibet region after the standoff with Indian troops in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector, the Press Trust of India Wednesday quoted a Chinese newspaper as reporting.
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