Congress on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should explain to the people of the country what prompted the government to normalise relations with China while our territorial integrity remains “gravely compromised”.
The party further said that the prime minister should take the people into confidence on this issue of national importance.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday noted that India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong jointly cut a cake to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China. “President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanged greetings with their Chinese counterparts, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, respectively. What takes the cake is how this is a clear signal that the Modi government has decided to accept the greatest loss of Indian territory in decades, surrendering over 2,000 sq km of land in Ladakh in the guise of disengagement,” he said.
Asserting that there is a consistency in the prime minister’s pusillanimous approach to China, the Congress MP claimed that it started with the infamous public clean chit he gave to China when he declared “na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai” on live television, only four days after 20 of our brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in Galwan on June 15, 2020.
“It continues today in the Modi government’s failure to safeguard our sovereignty while pursuing normalisation with China. More than four months after the signing of the disengagement agreement of October 21, 2024, the Indian government has failed to assuage widespread concerns that the agreement represents a major setback to India’s territorial integrity and national interest,” the parliamentarian said in a statement.
“Even amid the Chinese incursions on our sovereignty, our economic dependence on China continues to grow. Chinese imports have exceeded $100 billion and are headed higher in 2024-25, with our trade deficit vis-à-vis China also hitting record highs,” he pointed out.
Without naming anyone, he claimed that the Chinese firms that agree to tie up with the PM’s close friends are being rolled out a red carpet to enter the Indian market, even as India’s job-generating MSMEs are being devastated by the onslaught of Chinese imports.
“We reiterate our demand that the prime minister should take the people into confidence on this issue of critical national importance and explain why we are normalising relations with China and deepening our economic dependence on them even as our territorial integrity remains so gravely compromised,” added Ramesh.