After Rahul's 'cowardice' jibe at Jaishankar, Congress demands his sacking over China issue

'If he has an iota of morality in him, he should resign,' Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said of Jaishankar

The Congress on Monday demanded the sacking of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, accusing him of making "blasphemous" comments on the China issue.

The opposition party's attack came a day after Rahul Gandhi hit out at Jaishankar, saying the minister does not understand the China threat.

"If you notice the statement of the Foreign Minister, he said China is much more powerful than us. To think China is more powerful than us, how can I pick a fight with them? At the heart of the ideology is cowardice," Gandhi said in his interaction with the Indian diaspora.

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Asked about Gandhi's criticism of Jaishankar, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "If S Jaishankar understood the threat about China, he would not tell Chinese that 'we are a smaller economy and you are a larger economy and how do we go and attack them'. Is that not what he said in his interview?"

"S Jaishankar should actually resign from his position. If he has an iota of morality in him, he should resign.

"If there was an iota of morality or moral compass alive in the Modi government, he should be sacked for making a blasphemous statement like that, because in one single stroke, he has actually demeaned our forces, he has put everyone to shame," Shrinate said.

In a scathing attack on Jaishankar at the Congress' plenary session in Raipur last month, Gandhi had also said that his recent remarks on China did not show nationalism but cowardice and that these were in line with V D Savarkar's ideology of "bowing before the strong".