Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questions government’s ‘reactive stance’ on Chinese aggression

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on December 20 hit out at the Central government for its ‘non-aggressive, purely reactive’ stance with regards to the Chinese aggression at the borders.

In a Twitter response with respect to the External Affairs Minister’s statement with respect to Chinese aggression and the Indian Army’s success in forcing them to retreat to their side of the border, the senior Congress leader said,'' We agree with the External Affairs Minister (EAM) who said that our jawans should be "respected, honoured and appreciated" as they stand strong against our adversaries. Was it this respect that led PM Modi to say ""न वहां कोई हमारी सीमा में घुस आया है और न ही कोई gago after 20 of our soldiers gave up their lives defending our borders on 19 June 2020?”

''The EAM claims that relations with China are "Not normal", then why have we never called the Chinese Ambassador and issued démarche as we do with the Pakistan High Commissioner? Why is our trade dependence on China at a record high with imports at $95 billion in 2021-22 and the trade deficit at $74 billion? Why did our troops conduct military exercises with Chinese troops at Russia's Vostok-22 exercise in September 2022?'' he added.

He further said that EAM says that they will not let China change the status of the LAC unilaterally, adding, ''Has the status quo not been altered by Chinese troops 18 km deep in Depsang for the last two years? Is it not altered by the fact that our troops are unable to access 1,000 sq km of territory in eastern Ladakh that they earlier patrolled? Is it not altered by the fact that we have agreed to buffer zones that prevent our patrols from going to areas they previously could go to? When will the EAM unequivocally declare that restoration of the pre-2020 status quo is our objective?''

''The EAM said we are pressuring China. Why then do we have a purely reactive stance? Why did we withdraw from our advantageous position in the Kailash range without ensuring a full restoration of the pre-2020 status quo? Why have we not been more aggressive and made counter-intrusions to compel the Chinese to withdraw as we did in 1986 and 2013? When will we stop legitimizing Chinese aggression by referring to "differences in perception" rather than asserting our claim?” he added.

Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha walked out of the House on December 19 after the Chair rejected demands for a debate on  Chinese incursion on the borders.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all the nine notices under rule 267 saying they were not in order.

However, Congress and other parties kept insisting on their demand for suspension of business so the issue could be taken up.

The BJP Monday accused the opposition, especially the Congress, of having an obstructionist approach and called for not politicizing a sensitive issue like national security. 

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said there are several precedents of demands for a discussion or clarification on sensitive issues not allowed in Parliament when the Congress-led UPA was in power between 2004 and 2014.

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