New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday questioned the Narendra Modi-led government over its approach towards China. He asked the Modi government to decide on its policy towards China. "
Kharge cited Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal's statement that ties between India and China are "not normal." He said reports have claimed that Chinese diplomats visited Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters.
"He said reports have claimed that the Modi government has given exemptions in visas to Chinese technicians and professions for manufacturing under the PLI scheme.
In a post shared on X, Kharge stated, "On one hand, the Foreign Ministry of Modi government admitted for the first time that relations with China are not normal. On the other hand, according to the news - Diplomats from China went to the headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Why did they go? What did they go for? What conversation took place?
"2. Modi government has given exemption in visa to Chinese professionals and technicians for manufacturing under PLI scheme. Why did you give it? Didn't China give stapled visas to our talented players for the Asian Games? Did 20 of our brave soldiers not sacrifice their lives in Galwan while fighting China in 2020?," he added.
Taking a dig at PM Modi, Kharge said that he has given a clean chit to China and even mentioned in his statement, "Nobody entered our border."
On Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and China continue to engage on the diplomatic and military sides for some sort of a resolution. "
While addressing a weekly media briefing on Thursday, Jaiswal said, "India's position on China is very well known. It is a relationship, which is not normal, but we have had dialogues both on the military side and on the diplomatic side in October and November. And the idea is that we engage so that we can have some sort of resolution.
Jaiswal said he wanted to pull out what was discussed in these meetings that were held in October and November. "He said, "The commander-level meeting was held in October where there was an agreement to maintain momentum of dialogue and negotiations through relevant military and diplomatic mechanisms. And they also committed to maintaining peace and tranquility on the ground at the border areas."
He stated further that India and China also had the 28th meeting of the WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs)." "This is at the diplomatic level. We had our joint secretary East Asia participating there. They had a very good in-depth discussion, constructive discussion, frank discussion and they looked at all the proposals to resolve remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in eastern Ladakh," he added.
"Jaiswal said the two countries agreed on the need to maintain peace and tranquility along the border areas, ensure a stable situation on the ground and avoid any untoward incident.
"And then thereafter, the two sides agreed to continue the dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and hold the next round of senior commanders meeting at the earliest to achieve the above objective," he said. The 28th meeting of the WMCC was held on Thursday."
"The Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation and the Director-General, Boundary and Oceanic Affairs, of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation, the MEA informed."
"The two sides reviewed the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas and engaged in an open, constructive and in-depth discussion of proposals to resolve the remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in Eastern Ladakh, the MEA stated in a press release."
They further agreed on the need to maintain peace and tranquility along the border areas, ensure a stable situation on the ground and avoid any untoward incidents.",
"The two sides agreed to continue the dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and hold the next round of the Senior Commanders' Meeting at the earliest to achieve the above objective, the MEA added.
"Earlier in October, India and China held the 20th round of Corps Commander-level talks at Chushul as part of the ongoing efforts for overall disengagement and de-escalation to resolve the stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on October 9-10.
"According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two sides exchanged views in a frank, open and constructive manner for an early and mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector, in accordance with the guidance provided by the national leadership of the two countries, and building on the progress made in the last round of Corps Commanders' Meeting held on August 13-14, 2023.
Earlier in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started. Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.
Over 50,000 Indian soldiers have been stationed since 2020 at forward posts along the LAC with advanced weapons to prevent any attempts to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.
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