Owaisi hits out at Modi for seeking meeting with Xi Jinping

HYDERABAD: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi government for allegedly seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Brics summit in South Africa.

"Our PM @PMOIndia is going around asking for meetings with the Chinese President while keeping his own country in the dark about the real situation on the Ladakh border. What is Modi trying to hide?", the Hyderabad MP asked in a tweet on Friday.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping were seen having a brief conversation on the sidelines of the Brics summit.

Though the Indian officials have said that the request for the meeting had come from China, the Chinese foreign office spokesperson said that "President Xi Jinping talked with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi" at the request of Indian authorities.

"The two leaders had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on current China-India relations and other questions of shared interest. President Xi stressed that improving China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples, and is also conducive to peace, stability and development of the world and the region. The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border region," the Chinese spokesperson said.

Responding to the Chinese foreign office statement, Owaisi further asked: "Our brave soldiers have stayed on the border for 40 months and are not cowed down by the Chinese. Why can’t Modi stand up to Xi, and trust our soldiers? Is this loss of territory acceptable to Modi?"

"The capitulation by the Modi government before China on the border issue is shameful and dangerous. This is not Modi’s private property , it is a matter of national security and needs to be debated in a special session of parliament."