‘If They Don’t Believe…’: Gen Naravane’s Veiled Dig At Oppn Over ‘No Land Lost To China’ Remark

Last Updated:April 24, 2026, 17:57 IST

Former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane reiterates India has lost no territory to China, rejects Rahul Gandhi and Congress political use of his unpublished book.

Former Indian Army Chief General (retd) Manoj Mukund Naravane on Friday reiterated his earlier stance that India has not lost any territory to China, in response to political interpretations of his remarks in his unpublished book, which were cited by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Budget Session of the Parliament.

Speaking on the controversy, Naravane said that he continues to stand by his original statement. “At that time, I had also said that there is no loss of territory. I stand by that statement even today. That is where the matter stands," he said as quoted by news agency ANI.

He also took a veiled dig at the opposition, especially the Congress party, saying that the disagreement is less about facts and more about perception. He added that no amount of clarification or evidence would change the views of those unwilling to accept his position.

“However, if somebody doesn’t want to believe it, that is his choice. There is no amount of giving statements or producing evidence that will ever change somebody’s mind who doesn’t want to believe and has got some different views altogether. We have tried our best but if somebody still doesn’t want to accept that that is the truth, then so be it," he added.

In an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18 on Thursday, General (retd) Naravane junked the narratives of territorial loss to China during the 2020 standoff.

He also opened up on the controversy, saying it was “totally unfair to drag me and the armed forces into politics" by using unpublished texts to score points.

When questioned about the ground reality of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and ongoing border tensions with Beijing, General Naravane said, “To finish all the doubts at once, just ask the Chinese whether they gained any ground in India recently."

What’s The Row?

During the budget session of Parliament in February, LoP Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the unpublished memoir of General Naravane, ‘Four Stars of Destiny’. However, the Speaker stopped him as the book had not been published at the time.

After being denied to quote from the unpublished memoir, Gandhi was seen bringing a copy of the same during the remainder of the session.

Citing excerpts from the book, the Congress MP had claimed the former Army Chief informed Rajnath Singh and others about “Chinese tanks approaching", alleging there was no direct reply from the government for a long time.

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