The Congress on Monday demanded a two-day parliamentary debate on the China incursions and a white paper on the prevailing border situation after the latest meeting between external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart failed to yield the desired result.
Congress spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi said: “No surprise that the latest round of talks on July 7 between external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi failed to show any results. While the ministry of external affairs’ statement following the meeting called on China ‘to complete the disengagement from all remaining areas’, the Chinese statement made no reference to Ladakh whatsoever. We have reached such a sorry situation that the Chinese don’t even bother to acknowledge India’s demands.”
Rahul Gandhi, the only Opposition leader who has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi relentlessly for his silence on the Chinese aggression, tweeted: “Some truths about the Prime Minister: 1. He is scared of China. 2. Hides truth from the people. 3. Only interested in protecting his own image. 4. Lowers the morale of the Armed Forces. 5. Plays with national security. The increasing Chinese intrusion and the Prime Minister’s silence are injurious for the country.”
Playing on the popular Hindi film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Prime Minister’s DDLJ policy with China: Deny — Prime Minister denied any intrusion by China into Indian territory. Distract — Removed the Defence Ministry report on Chinese intrusion from the official website. Lie — the biggest lie that nobody entered our territory. Justify — Instead of retaliation, bolstered trade with China.”
Later at the media conference, Gogoi accused the Prime Minister of desperately trying to protect his own image instead of acting in national interest.
“If our own Prime Minister cannot summon the courage to tell the people of India the truth about Ladakh, why would our adversary acknowledge it? The BJP government uses the euphemism of ‘friction points’ to describe the border situation. Please explain to the people of India why there is ‘friction’ if Chinese troops are not in control of our territory? Modi’s need to protect his image is tying the government in knots.”
Gogoi recalled how the defence ministry was in August 2020 forced to take down a document from its website that contradicted the Prime Minister’s stance and admitted that “the Chinese side transgressed in the areas of Kugrang Nala, Gogra and the north bank of Pangong Tso lake”.
Gogoi said: “In November 2020, the ministry of external affairs ‘took note’ of a US report that China had built a 100-home village in disputed territory in Arunachal Pradesh, and that it would never accept China’s ‘illegal occupation’ of our territory. However, the then Chief of Defence Staff contradicted this stance and denied any Chinese construction on our side.”
Gogoi pointed to how China cemented its control with an unprecedented military build-up during the course of the negotiations for de-escalation. “Is there something deeper behind the Prime Minister’s appeasement of China? He has met Chinese President Xi Jinping 18 times and visited China four times as chief minister and five times as Prime Minister. Meanwhile, his policies are deepening our economic dependence on China: India’s imports from China hit an all-time high of $94 billion in 2021-22. As chief minister, Modi himself had once said, ‘The problem is not on the border but in Delhi.’”
