Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, over the ‘India-China relations’, asking whether the Modi government has agreed to a “new normal” over the “old normal,” in a settlement that “does not restore” the Line of Actual Control.
The Congress leader reiterated the opposition’s demand that the Parliament should be allowed to debate on the China issue to reflect the collective national resolve. He said that the debate should focus on both strategic and economic policies especially since India’s dependence on China has increased economically.
In a post on X, Ramesh said that the Congress party has “carefully studied” the statement made by the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in both Houses of Parliament on “Recent Developments in India’s Relations with China”.
“It is unfortunate, but part of the Modi Government’s well-known politics, that MPs were not allowed to seek any clarifications. Parliament was not allowed to reflect on our collective resolve to address the challenges along the border with China,” he added.
Notably, after over four years of standoff, India and China in October this year, reached an agreement regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.
The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, and was sparked by Chinese military actions. It led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.
While “fully appreciating” the sensitive nature of many aspects of India-China border relations, Jairam Ramesh said that the Congress Party has four direct questions to ask the Modi Government.
Highlighting the statement that claimed, “the House is well aware of the circumstances that led to the violent clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020,” the Congress leader said that it is “unfortunate” that the first official statement on this incident was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clean chit to China saying that “No one has entered our territory, nor is anyone intruding.”
“This is an unfortunate reminder, as the country’s first official statement on this grave crisis came on 19 June 2020 when the Prime Minister gave a clean chit to China and utterly lied, “Na koi humari seema me ghush aaya hai, naa hi koi ghusa hua hai”, This was not only an insult to our fallen soldiers but also weakened India’s position in subsequent negotiations. What was it that compelled the Prime Minister to make this statement with such force,” Jairam Ramesh said.
“On October 22 2024, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi reiterated India’s long-standing position: ‘As far as we are concerned, we want to return to the status quo pre-April 2020…After that, we will talk about the withdrawal of troops, de-escalation and normal management of the LAC.’ However, the MEA statement after the 32nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) on December 5, 2024, said that ‘the two sides have agreed to take forward the implementation of the most recent disengagement agreement’,” the Congress leader stated.
“The Foreign Minister has positively confirmed that the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will resolve the issues that cropped up in 2020. Doesn’t this indicate a change in our official position,” he asked.
Jairam Ramesh pointed out that according to the Foreign Minister’s statement, temporary and limited steps have been taken at some other places where there were confrontations in 2020, claiming that this statement refers to the “buffer zone” where India’s troops and livestock owners have been denied access as before.
“The Foreign Minister’s statement in Parliament said that ‘at some other places where there were confrontations in 2020, temporary and limited steps have been taken based on local conditions to avoid further recurrence of such a situation’. This refers to the so-called “buffer zone” where our troops and livestock owners have been denied access as before. Taken together, these statements show that the Ministry of External Affairs is accepting a settlement that does not restore the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to the pre-April 2020 status quo as desired by the military and the nation. Has the Modi government agreed to the new status quo and agreed to the “new normal” after China unilaterally disturbed the “old normal” before April 2020″, he asked.
The Congress leader further questioned why the Chinese government is yet to corroborate any details about the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok.
“The Chinese government has not yet resolved to disengage at Depsang and Why have no details been confirmed on the withdrawal of troops in Demchok? Have Indian herders restored their earlier grazing rights? Will there be unhindered access to traditional patrol points? Has India taken back the buffer zones left during the last talks?” he asked.
“The Indian National Congress reiterates what it has been demanding for the past few years–Parliament should be allowed to debate the China issue to reflect the collective national resolve. This debate should focus on both strategic and economic policies–because our dependence on China has increased economically and it unilaterally changed the status quo on our borders four years ago,” Jairam Ramesh added. (ANI)
