Mani Shankar Aiyar puts foot in mouth: ‘In 1962, China allegedly attacked India’

New Delhi, May 28

The Congress on Tuesday night rushed to distance itself from a fresh controversial remark by leader and former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who said today in 1962 “China allegedly attacked India”.

Aiyar’s remarks made at a book release event in the capital were posted on X by BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya putting the Congress on the defensive.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh rushed to damage control saying “Mani Shankar Aiyar has apologised unreservedly for using the term “alleged invasion’ mistakenly. Allowances must be made for his age. The INC distances itself from his original phraseology.

“The Chinese invasion that began on October 20, 1962, was for real. So too were the Chinese incursions in Ladakh in early May 2020 in which 40 of our soldiers were martyred and the status quo disturbed. The outgoing PM, however, gave a clean chit publicly to the Chinese on June 19, 2020, seriously weakening our negotiating position. 2000 sq km of territory, including Depsang and Demchok remain out of bounds for Indian troops,” said Jairam.