JOIN USModi govt hiding from Chinese incursions with 'DDLJ': Jairam Ramesh hits out after EAM's 'cheap shot' at Rahul
Congress on Monday once again turned up the heat on the Narendra Modi government on China, summing up its strategy as 'DDLJ' -- Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify -- as the ruling BJP sought to launch a counter attack in recent times.
A day after its top leader Rahul Gandhi said that Modi is the only person who is under the impression that China has not taken any land from India, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh issued a statement taking on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for his "cheap shot" on Rahul as "no amount of obfuscation can hide the fact" that the government has sought to "cover up India’s biggest territorial setback in decades".
"Since May 2020, the Modi government’s preferred strategy to deal with the Chinese incursions in Ladakh has been summed up with DDLJ -- Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify. Jaishankar’s recent remarks attacking the Congress are simply the latest attempt to divert attention from the Modi government’s failed China policy, the most recent revelation being that since May 2020, India has lost access to 26 of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh," he said.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which is sometimes referred as 'DDLJ', is a popular Hindi blockbuster movie released in 1995 starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.
Ramesh said the fact is that there can be no comparison between 1962, when India went to war with China to defend its territory, and 2020 after which India has "acquiesced to Chinese aggression with denials followed by ‘disengagements’ in which India has lost access to thousands of square kilometres of territory".
He said Jaishankar’s "implied cheap shot" at Rahul Gandhi for meeting the Chinese ambassador in 2017 is "ironic to say the least coming from someone who as ambassador to the US during the Obama administration presumably met" with leading Republicans.
"Are Opposition leaders not entitled to meet diplomats from countries that are important from a trade, investment and security standpoint? Rather, the Modi government should have been truthful from the start and taken the Opposition into confidence by discussing the China crisis in parliamentary standing committees and debating the issue in Parliament. At a very minimum it should have held detailed briefings for leaders of major political parties," he said.
Ramesh also referred to Jaishankar's "admissions" on several occasions that "he has no idea why China has turned aggressive" on the Line of Actual Control, notwithstanding the unusually frequent contacts between Modi and President Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister's boast that he enjoys a special ‘Plus One’ relationship with President Xi.
"No amount of obfuscation can hide the fact that the Modi government has sought to cover up India’s biggest territorial setback in decades that followed PM Modi’s naive wooing of President Xi. We suggest that EAM Jaishankar and the government spend more time trying to get Chinese troops out of Depsang and Demchok and less time on blaming the Opposition for their own incompetence," he added.
Here is my response to the most recent statements of the External Affairs Minister who is playing a starring role in Modi Sarkar's version of DDLJ. pic.twitter.com/UMpevHZ5vk
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 30, 2023
On Sunday, Rahul told his 13th and press conference during his Bharat Jodo Yatra that the Prime Minister is "almost frankly the only person in the country who is under the impression that the Chinese have not taken any land from India".
He said he has met a few ex-Army personnel and a delegation from Ladakh, who have clearly told him that 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory have been taken over by the Chinese. He was also told that many of the patrolling points that used to be in Indian territory are now firmly in Chinese hands.
"I keep repeating that the approach of the government is completely denying that the Chinese have taken our land, is an extreme approach and is going to give them confidence to do even more aggressive things. I think the way to deal with the Chinese is to deal with them firmly and to be very clear that they are sitting on our land and it is not something we are going to tolerate," he had said.