Narendra Modi, not Rahul Gandhi, despatched the military to LAC, EAM Dr Jaishankar hits out on Wayanad MP

Hitting again at Rahul Gandhi who has been focusing on the federal government over China’s aggression on the LAC in jap Ladakh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday stated that it’s not the Congress chief however Prime Minister Narendra Modi who despatched the Army to the Line of Actual Control as a countermeasure to troop deployment by China and the opposition get together ought to have honesty to have a look at what occurred in 1962. 

In an interview with ANI, Jaishankar stated the Modi authorities had elevated the funds by 5 instances to ramp up border infrastructure. Referring to Congress and different opposition events outraging over the Chinese constructing a bridge on the Pangong Lake final 12 months, the Minister stated the world had been beneath unlawful occupation of China for the reason that 1962 struggle. 

In a robust rebuttal to Congress over allegations pertaining to China, he stated its leaders will need to have some downside understanding phrases starting with ‘C’. 

“When did that area actually come under Chinese control? They (Congress) must have some problem understanding words beginning with ‘C’. I think they are deliberately misrepresenting the situation. The Chinese first came there in 1958 and the Chinese captured it in October 1962. Now you are going to blame the Modi government in 2023 for a bridge which the Chinese captured in 1962 and you don’t have the honesty to say that it is where it happened,” stated Dr Jaishankar. 

“Rajiv Gandhi went to Beijing in 1988…signed agreements in 1993 and 1996. I do not think signing those agreements was wrong. This is not a political point I am making. I think those agreements were signed at that time because we needed to stabilise the border. And they did, stabilise the border.” 

The External Affairs Minister burdened that when different nations’ calls for aren’t cheap, the federal government will be unable to come back to an settlement. 

Asked in regards to the Congress get together’s allegation that the Modi authorities is defensive and reactive on the China concern, Jaishankar dismissed the claims saying there may be at the moment the biggest peacetime deployment alongside the China border. 

“If I would have to sum up this China thing, please do not buy this narrative that somewhere the government is on the defensive…somewhere we are being accommodative. I ask people if we were being accommodative who sent the Indian Army to the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Rahul Gandhi did not send them. Narendra Modi sent them. We have today the largest peacetime deployment in our history on the China border. We are keeping troops there at a huge cost with great effort. We have increased our infrastructure spending on the border five times in this government. Now tell me who is the defensive and accommodative person? Who is actually telling the truth? Who is depicting things accurately? Who is playing footsie with history?”,” added Jaishankar in an interview to ANI. 

Asked about Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that S Jaishankar didn’t know a lot about overseas coverage and wanted to study a little bit bit extra, the External Affairs Minister took a veiled dig and stated he’s prepared to take heed to the Wayanad MP if he has “superior knowledge and wisdom” on China. 

“I think he said this somewhere in a public meeting. It is probably in the context of China. All I can say in my defence is I have been the longest-serving ambassador in China. I have been dealing with a lot of these border issues for a very long time. I am not suggesting that I am necessarily the most knowledgeable person but I would have a fairly good self-opinion of my understanding of what is up there. If he has superior knowledge and wisdom for China, I am always willing to listen. As I said, for me life is a learning process. If that is a possibility, I have never closed my mind to anything however improbable that may be,” Jaishankar added. 

Referring to Congress criticism regarding border villages developing on the Chinese facet of LAC, he stated the opposition get together ought to keep in mind what occurred in 1962. 

“What happens you do this smoke and mirror, oh there is something happening here it is almost like 1962 never happened,” he stated. 

“We should be building border infrastructure. Why did you (Congress-led governments) not build up infrastructure? Look at the border infrastructure budget during the Modi period, the budget has gone up five times. Till 2014, it was roughly Rs 3000-4000 crore, today it is Rs 14,000 crore. If you look at the roads that are built, the bridges, they have doubled or tripled, look at the tunnels this government is serious about border infrastructure…where as we know the underlining thinking earlier was let us leave it like that till the Chinese cannot come inside which meant you have no intention of contesting them when they came in,” he stated. 

He stated it was vital to name out Congress blunders because it was focusing on the federal government. 

“Personally, I can get into a blame game what happened in 1962, it happened, but now if you whitewash all that everything happened only in 2023… I have to call you (Congress) out,” Jaishankar stated. He added that steps to enhance border infrastructure ought to have been taken at the least over twenty years again. 

No initially I’m not utilizing the phrase we’re fortifying it I feel we’re legitimately constructing our border infrastructure as a result of they’ve constructed a strong border infrastructure. In my view, we should always have achieved it 25 years in the past. 

He stated China was a much bigger economic system and India was responding to the scenario that China has created alongside the LAC in Ladakh by violating border agreements. 

“They are the bigger economy what I am going to do? I am a smaller economy. Am I going to sort of pick up a fight with a bigger economy? It is not a question of reacting. It is a question of common sense. We had in agreement that we are not supposed to bring to the borders in large numbers…because it is in our interest to stabilize our borders or a situation it is not out of love affection or sentiment. It is a core calculation,” he stated. 

Jaishankar stated border agreements had helped stabilise the scenario until these have been violated by China. 

There had been a standoff on the LAC in Ladakh following the aggressive actions of the Chinese Army. The two nations held a number of rounds of army and diplomatic talks for disengagement from some friction factors. The excessive stage of troop deployment by China continues for which India has taken counter steps.

(This information report is printed from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content material has not been written or edited by OpIndia employees)