The Indian government had arrived at a consensus or a ‘concession’ with China during the meeting last year, Congress on Friday inquired criticising the Union external affairs ministry notification about the exchange of courtesies and discussion over border tension between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Bali G20 summit in 2022.
Pointing out India’s ‘no compromise’ stance against China on various fronts, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the recent MEA notification of the meeting, after almost eight months, indicates that the Indian government has been easing up on maintaining ties, including the economic relations, with China like ‘as if the Chinese incursions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh never even happened’.
“On July 27th, our Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that more than mere courtesies were exchanged at Bali. Is this a consensus or a concession by PM Modi? Will Chinese troops finally withdraw from Depsang and Demchok where they have blocked Indian patrols for more than three years?” the Congress MP asked in a tweet with a ‘lal aankh’ swipe against the government.
The MEA confirmation came after the Chinese foreign ministry claimed in Johannesburg at the BRICS NSA meeting that both PM Modi and Xi Jinping had reached an ‘important consensus’ on stabilising the bilateral ties at the summit.
“During the Bali G20 summit last year, the prime minister and President Xi Jinping at the conclusion of that dinner hosted by the Indonesian President exchanged courtesies and spoke of the need to stabilise our bilateral relations…As you are aware, we have steadfastly maintained the key to resolution of the whole issue is to resolve the situation along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) on the Western sector of India-China boundary and to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a press briefing.
This is the first such interaction between the leaders of both countries after the beginning of India-China border standoff in May 2020.
“The two sides agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not only for the two countries but also for the region and world,” the MEA added.
At the BRICS meeting, NSA (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval also stressed that the border tension between two countries since 2020 had ‘eroded strategic trust’.
The Congress has been critical of the Centre since the Chinese troops started ‘violating the previous LAC agreement’ leading to their incursion across the border.
