New Delhi: The Congress on Monday slammed the Centre over mishandling of Chinese incursions at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and said the government should not cede any more territory to the neighbour. India and China have been locked in a bloody border row since April 2020 when Beijing deliberately violated the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The India-China relations dipped further since the June 2020 Galwan Valley clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers and an equal number of Chinese troops were killed. The top army commanders of the two countries have held several rounds of talks since then but India still accuses China of not disengaging completely and says that the situation has led to “abnormal” bilateral relations.
Over the past years, the Congress has accused the Centre of having ceded several patrol points to China instead of bringing Beijing to a status quo ante of April 2020. “Access to the strategic sector of Depsang has been denied to Indian patrols for more than three years now, with no signs of a return to the status quo. Now we learn that, far from withdrawing, the Chinese are demanding a “buffer zone” 15-20 km further inside Indian territory. This after having already intruded 18 km past our rightful border,” Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh pointed out.
“The Modi government has already ceded territory in Galwan, Pangong Tso, Gogra Post and Hot Springs by agreeing to buffer zones inside Indian territory in return for a Chinese withdrawal,” he said. The Congress urged the Centre to stand firm with China saying that PM Modi’s 2020 statement giving a clean chit to Beijing had been exploited by the neighbour.
Also read: India-China ties have great bearing on world: Chinese envoy
“The Modi government must stand firm against China. India cannot lose access to the 1,000 sq km area. Depsang Plains separate Chinese and Pakistani forces and are crucial to any defence of Ladakh,” said Ramesh. “PM Modi’s public “clean chit” to China on June 19, 2020, immeasurably weakened India's negotiating position and the country is paying a heavy price for it. It’s bad enough that the Modi government has failed to restore the status quo in the last three years. To allow it to worsen would be unforgivable,” he said.
In the past, the Congress has accused the Centre of pursuing a weak policy against China saying that Beijing was not only cultivating Pakistan, their cooperation presented a two-front security threat for India. The Congress has also claimed that the previous UPA government had responded to Chinese aggression in a much more effective way and said that the Centre’s China policy was based on the faulty image-building exercise of the PM.
“China recently released a third set of Chinese names for places in Arunachal Pradesh, having done so earlier in 2017 and 2021. This is the price we continue to pay for PM Modi’s clean chit to China and his eloquent silence on Chinese actions. Almost three years later, Chinese forces continue to deny our patrols access to the strategic Depsang Plains to which we previously had unimpeded access. And now the Chinese are attempting to undermine the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh,” said Ramesh.
