NEW DELHI: Demanding that Parliament be allowed to debate the full gamut of the India-China relationship, Congress criticised government over its recent statement in Parliament on India-China ties and claimed that the Modi govt had agreed to a “new normal” over the “old normal” prevailing before April 2020 which was “unilaterally disturbed by China”.
Congress said the discussion in Parliament should focus on “both strategic and economic policy, especially since our dependence on China has increased economically, even as it unilaterally changed the status quo on our borders over four years back”.
On external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s statement in both Houses of Parliament on China, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “It is unfortunate, but typical of the Modi government, MPs were not permitted to seek any clarifications.”
He said the first “official communication” to the nation on the China crisis came on June 19, 2020, when the Prime Minister provided a clean chit publicly to China and stated, “Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai”. “Not only was this an insult to our fallen soldiers but it also weakened India’s position in subsequent negotiations. Whatever prompted the PM to make this assertion?” he asked.