Jaishankar's remarks an attempt to divert attention from Modi govt's 'failed' China policy: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

"External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent remarks attacking the Congress are simply the latest attempt to divert attention from the Modi government’s failed China policy.

"The most recent revelation being that since May 2020 India has lost access to 26 of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh," the Congress MP said.

He said, "Since May 2020, the Modi government’s preferred strategy to deal with the Chinese incursions in Ladakh has been summed up with DDLJ - Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify. No amount of obfuscation can hide the fact that the government has sought to cover up India’s biggest territorial setback in decades that followed PM Modi’s naive wooing of Chinese President Xi Jinping."

"The fact is that there is no comparison between 1962, when India went to war with China to defend its territory, and 2020 after which India has acquiesced to Chinese aggression with denials followed by ‘disengagements’ in which India has lost access to thousands of square kilometres of territory," the MP said.

He added, "EAM Jaishankar’s implied cheap shot at Rahul Gandhi for meeting the Chinese ambassador in 2017 is ironic to say the least coming from someone who as ambassador to the US during the Obama administration presumably met with leading Republicans. Are Opposition leaders not entitled to meet diplomats from countries that are important from a trade, investment and security standpoint?

"The Modi government should have been truthful from the start and taken the Opposition into confidence by discussing the China crisis in parliamentary standing committees and debating the issue in Parliament."

Last week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "clean chit" to China is costing the nation's territorial integrity.

"The Modi government's continued denial of illegal occupation and construction of infrastructure by the Chinese has 'endangered' our borders," Kharge had said.

The Congress has been demanding the government to take concrete steps over alleged Chinese incursions in various border areas, including in the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The party had accused the government of running away from a debate on Chinese issues in the recently concluded Winter Session of the Parliament.