For this reason, former defense ministers George Fernandes and Mulayam Singh considered China to be India's number one enemy.

New delhi date. Thursday 18 June 2020

Relations between India and China have soured once again as violence erupted between the two countries in the Galvan Valley of Ladakh on Monday. India is furious with China over this. China's threat to India is not new but decades old. Former Defense Minister George Fernandes considered China as India's number one enemy and Mulayam Singh Yadav had declared China a bigger enemy than Pakistan. In this way, both the former defense ministers of the country have been cautious about China from time to time.

It may be recalled that two decades ago, in 1998, the then NDA government's defense minister George Fernandes had strategically declared China as India's number one enemy. "Our countrymen are reluctant to face the truth and there is no question about China's intentions," George Fernandez said in an interview when he was defense minister. The way China is providing missile and economic aid to Pakistan. Soldiers are helping Myanmar's military regime and trying to encircle India by land and sea. This suggests that China is our number one enemy.

This statement of George Fernandes did not seem appropriate to some at the time. His statement was opposed by some of George's fellow ministers. Not only that, but the Opposition Congress and the Left forces also found George's statement inappropriate. However, in the current situation, after this incident in China, some people in the country, like George, are considering China as the number one enemy. So some organizations are boycotting Chinese goods to teach China a lesson.

Like George Fernandes, former defense minister Mulayam Singh Yadav sees China as an ally of Pakistan with India. During the debate in the Lok Sabha after the Doklama controversy in 2017, Mulayam Singh made two separate statements that India's biggest issue is not Pakistan but China. Criticizing the former government, Mulayam Singh also said that handing over Tibet was India's biggest mistake.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has repeatedly made harsh remarks about China and warned India. In 2013, Mulayam Singh, who had been supporting the Congress-led UPA government from outside, accused the Manmohan Singh government of doing nothing to infiltrate China. Mulayam Singh's statement on China is being shared on social media by some, including the Samajwadi Party leader.