Why imperil nationwide safety for sake of your vainness: Congress questions PM on China

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday posed a set of 5 inquiries to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on China and requested why he has imperilled nationwide safety for the sake of his vainness.

The opposition occasion additionally requested whether or not his obsession with image-building has come on the expense of nationwide pursuits and why has his personalised diplomacy confirmed to be completely hole.

In an announcement, Congress normal secretary communications Jairam Ramesh mentioned he had earlier requested a set of seven inquiries to the prime minister on China and one other set of 5 questions on December 18, however no solutions have been forthcoming.

“We asked the PM the first set of 7 questions on China on 17.12.22. As expected, no answers were forthcoming, and it was followed by a second set of 5 questions on 18.12.22. Here’s the third set of 5 questions to the PM for which the nation is asking and demanding answers from him,” he mentioned on Twitter.

The Congress chief mentioned many have identified how “afraid the prime minister is” in taking the identify of the nation’s chief adversary — China — and referred to what Kenneth Juster, who was the US Ambassador to India from 2017 to 2021, mentioned: “far from naming China, your government asked the US not to mention China’s border aggression in its statements.”

“Would it not have been better to rally international opinion to our side? Why have you imperilled our national security for the sake of your vanity,” Ramesh mentioned.

“For the sake of your domestic image, you have thrown your effort into personalised diplomacy and projecting strong relationships with major world leaders. With your ‘friend’ President Xi Jinping you sat in a swing in Ahmedabad, shared cups of tea in Wuhan and shook hands in Bali,” he mentioned.

“As recently as October 2019 you met Xi again and declared that ‘Chennai Vision is the start of a new era in India-China relations’ and added that ‘strategic communications between both the sides have increased’. Six months later the Chinese were communicating their strategic intent, from Depsang to Demchok, while you remained in complete denial. Has your personalised diplomacy not been proven to be utterly hollow? Has your obsession with image-building come at the expense of the national interest,” the Congress chief requested.

ALSO READ | Govt blocking debate on China, Weakening judiciary: Sonia Gandhi

Ramesh additionally mentioned that a while in the past the prime minister coined a brand new slogan “Inch towards Miles” wherein “Inch” stood for “India-China” and “Miles” for “Millennium of Exceptional Energy.”

Then, the nation noticed the Chinese exert distinctive power to take over hundreds of sq. miles of its territory in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, he alleged and requested, “Would you agree that your naiveté and bad judgment cost the nation dearly?” He additionally requested if it was true that when the senior officers of all three armed providers assembled on the Combined Commanders’ Conference on INS Vikramaditya in 2015 informed the prime minister that all of them thought of China to be India’s prime navy menace, he replied: “I believe that China is not a military threat at all to India.”

“Does this not reflect a level of delusion and overconfidence against all the available evidence,” the Congress chief requested.

“The Chinese incursions in early 2020 were a strategic surprise that caught us unprepared. The last time we faced a comparable military surprise was in Kargil in 1999. Why do BJP governments that cloak themselves with ‘nationalism’ so often fall victim to such surprises? Could it be that they are more interested in politicking and attacking the Opposition than ensuring the safety of the country? When will we have an accounting of the China surprise as we did following the Kargil war,” Ramesh questioned.

The Opposition has been in search of a dialogue in Parliament on the border scenario with China however the authorities has not agreed to it terming the difficulty very delicate.

Insisting on its demand for a dialogue, the Opposition has been inflicting disruptions in Parliament ever for the reason that begin of the Winter Session on December 7 and has been staging walkouts.

ALSO READ | China making ready for battle, Indian authorities asleep: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday posed a set of 5 inquiries to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on China and requested why he has imperilled nationwide safety for the sake of his vainness.

The opposition occasion additionally requested whether or not his obsession with image-building has come on the expense of nationwide pursuits and why has his personalised diplomacy confirmed to be completely hole.

In an announcement, Congress normal secretary communications Jairam Ramesh mentioned he had earlier requested a set of seven inquiries to the prime minister on China and one other set of 5 questions on December 18, however no solutions have been forthcoming.

“We asked the PM the first set of 7 questions on China on 17.12.22. As expected, no answers were forthcoming, and it was followed by a second set of 5 questions on 18.12.22. Here’s the third set of 5 questions to the PM for which the nation is asking and demanding answers from him,” he mentioned on Twitter.

The Congress chief mentioned many have identified how “afraid the prime minister is” in taking the identify of the nation’s chief adversary — China — and referred to what Kenneth Juster, who was the US Ambassador to India from 2017 to 2021, mentioned: “far from naming China, your government asked the US not to mention China’s border aggression in its statements.”

“Would it not have been better to rally international opinion to our side? Why have you imperilled our national security for the sake of your vanity,” Ramesh mentioned.

“For the sake of your domestic image, you have thrown your effort into personalised diplomacy and projecting strong relationships with major world leaders. With your ‘friend’ President Xi Jinping you sat in a swing in Ahmedabad, shared cups of tea in Wuhan and shook hands in Bali,” he mentioned.

“As recently as October 2019 you met Xi again and declared that ‘Chennai Vision is the start of a new era in India-China relations’ and added that ‘strategic communications between both the sides have increased’. Six months later the Chinese were communicating their strategic intent, from Depsang to Demchok, while you remained in complete denial. Has your personalised diplomacy not been proven to be utterly hollow? Has your obsession with image-building come at the expense of the national interest,” the Congress chief requested.

ALSO READ | Govt blocking debate on China, Weakening judiciary: Sonia Gandhi

Ramesh additionally mentioned that a while in the past the prime minister coined a brand new slogan “Inch towards Miles” wherein “Inch” stood for “India-China” and “Miles” for “Millennium of Exceptional Energy.”

Then, the nation noticed the Chinese exert distinctive power to take over hundreds of sq. miles of its territory in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, he alleged and requested, “Would you agree that your naiveté and bad judgment cost the nation dearly?” He additionally requested if it was true that when the senior officers of all three armed providers assembled on the Combined Commanders’ Conference on INS Vikramaditya in 2015 informed the prime minister that all of them thought of China to be India’s prime navy menace, he replied: “I believe that China is not a military threat at all to India.”

“Does this not reflect a level of delusion and overconfidence against all the available evidence,” the Congress chief requested.

“The Chinese incursions in early 2020 were a strategic surprise that caught us unprepared. The last time we faced a comparable military surprise was in Kargil in 1999. Why do BJP governments that cloak themselves with ‘nationalism’ so often fall victim to such surprises? Could it be that they are more interested in politicking and attacking the Opposition than ensuring the safety of the country? When will we have an accounting of the China surprise as we did following the Kargil war,” Ramesh questioned.

The Opposition has been in search of a dialogue in Parliament on the border scenario with China however the authorities has not agreed to it terming the difficulty very delicate.

Insisting on its demand for a dialogue, the Opposition has been inflicting disruptions in Parliament ever for the reason that begin of the Winter Session on December 7 and has been staging walkouts.

ALSO READ | China making ready for battle, Indian authorities asleep: Rahul Gandhi