Rahul Gandhi has been criticizing the government over China’s aggression on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar responded on February 21, saying that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sent the Army to the LAC as a response to China’s military deployment and that the opposition party should be honest and consider what transpired in 1962.
Mr. Jaishankar claimed in an interview with ANI that the Modi administration had raised the funding for border infrastructure by five times.
The Minister said the region had been illegally occupied by China since the 1962 war, in reference to Congress and other opposition parties protesting the Chinese construction of a bridge on the Pangong Lake last year.
He strongly refuted accusations made against China in Congress, claiming that its leaders must have trouble comprehending words that start with the letter “C.”
The External Affairs Minister emphasized that the government will not be able to reach a deal if the demands of other nations are unreasonable.
When questioned about the claim made by the Congress party that the Modi administration is defensive and reactive regarding the China problem, Mr. Jaishankar rejected the allegations, stating that the biggest peacetime deployment along the China border is currently in place.
When asked about comments made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that Wayanad MP S Jaishankar needed to learn more about foreign policy, the External Affairs Minister took a subtle dig and said he would be open to listening to the Wayanad MP if he had superior knowledge and wisdom on China.
He said the opposition party should keep in mind what transpired in 1962 in response to criticism from Congress regarding border towns that are developing on the Chinese side of LAC.
He argued that since Congress was criticizing the administration, it was critical to point out its errors.
He claimed that China had a larger economy and that India was breaking border agreements in retaliation for the crisis China had induced in Ladakh along the LAC.
Border agreements, according to Mr. Jaishankar, had served to stabilize the situation up until China started breaking them. Due to the Chinese Army’s aggressive moves, there had been a standoff at the LAC in Ladakh. The two nations conducted numerous rounds of military and diplomatic negotiations to resolve some points of contention. India has responded in kind to China’s continued high-level military deployment.
ANI / edited by News Mania Desk
