BJP president JP Nadda on Monday counters the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s current handling of the China issue by saying that Singh’s statement is mere ‘wordplay’.

“Sadly, the conduct and actions of top leaders of the Congress party will not make any Indian believe such statements. Remember, this is the same INC that always questions & demoralises our armed forces,” Nadda said.

Nadda said that the country fully trusts and supports PM Narendra Modi and the 130 crore Indians have seen his administrative experience in some of the most testing times, particularly how he has always put the well-being of the nation over and above everything else.

“Dr Manmohan Singh, rightly, calls for unity. Again, the strong words on paper fall flat when we see exactly who is vitiating the atmosphere of unity… Hope Dr. Singh is able to prevail on his own party at least,” Nadda said.

Launching a counter-attack on the former PM, Nadda said, “Dr Manmohan Singh belongs to the same party which: Helplessly surrendered over 43,000 KM of Indian territory to the Chinese! During the UPA years saw abject strategic and territorial surrender without a fight. Time and again belittles our forces.”

“One only wishes that Dr. Singh was as worried about Chinese designs when, as PM, he abjectly surrendered hundreds of square kilometres of India’s land to China. He presided over 600 incursions made by China between 2010 to 2013!” he added.

“Dr Manmohan Singh can certainly share his wisdom on many subjects but the responsibilities of the office of the Prime Minister isn’t one of them. UPA personified systematic institutional erosion of that office, combined with disrespect for our armed forces. NDA has reversed that!” he added.

In a message to both the former PM and the Congress party, he said, “Dear Dr Singh and Congress Party, Please stop insulting our forces repeatedly, questioning their valour. You did this post the air strikes and surgical strikes. Please understand the true meaning of national unity, especially in such times. It’s never too late to improve.”

Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday, in a statement on the Ladakh clash that killed 20 soldiers, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be “mindful of the implications of his words and declarations” on nation’s security as also strategic and territorial interests.