Congress' Pawan Khera
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of rolling out a “red carpet” to China when it is supposed to show the “laal aankh (red eyes)” and asked it to come clean on whether it raised contentious issues, including Beijing’s support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, when a delegation of Communist Party of China (CPC) met the ruling party leaders.
Party’s Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera claimed that China made claims on Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir hours after the meeting with the ruling party leadership here, even as he was “aghast” at a “scared” BJP not allowing a discussion on China in Parliament where the Opposition wants to raise its “double standards”.
He also questioned the meeting RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had with the Chinese delegation, saying that “non-state players, who play behind shadows” should not be allowed to “control state policies”.
In a statement, he said, “Laal Aankh claims, in reality, have become the BJP’s ‘Laal Salaams’ (Red Salute) to the CPC” and “hurting India’s national interests has become the essence” of Modi’s foreign policy.
Addressing a press conference, Khera said he was not questioning the meeting CPC had with BJP, as such discussions should happen with parties. He also acknowledged that Congress' Foreign Affairs Department head Salman Khurshid met the delegation after the government approved the request by the Chinese side for a meeting.
“BJP has even taught the chameleon a new color. For those who were supposed to show ‘red eyes’ to China, the BJP has rolled out the ‘red carpet’...We have a problem with BJP's intentions because after these closed-door meetings, the country has to bear the consequences,” he said.
He said “meek surrender” was the “most appropriate phrase” for the BJP’s policy towards China, as Modi government’s “rank hypocrisy” in its dealings with Beijing has “muddled” India’s foreign policy.
Khera told reporters asked whether the BJP raised issues in which China had struck at India's “interests”, including Galwan, Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh as well as Beijing helping Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. He also raised the resumption of ‘Mansarovar Yatra’ by accepting China’s “conditions”.
He asked whether the BJP raised the issue of restoring the status quo ante at the Ladakh border and the Line of Actual Control, “astronomical” trade imbalance with China, rampant flooding of Chinese goods in India, Chinese ban on providing rare earth minerals and specialised fertilisers to India and detention of Indians from Arunachal Pradesh by China among others.
“Modi tells us not to buy decorative lights from China and then himself procures smart metres from a Chinese company. China changes the map and the government bans their apps. China stops our fertilizers, stops selling rare earth metals, which causes damage to the country. In Galwan, 20 of our soldiers were martyred and Modi didn’t care,” he said.
Khera claimed that the world now knows that such a person has become the Prime Minister who acts “subservient” when praised and on the other hand, if someone “scares” him, he stands there with “hands tied and head bowed”.