'Cowardly kowtowing': Congress slams government after Modi-Xi talks

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday attacked the government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and accused it of "cowardly kowtowing" and capitulation to the "so-called dragon."

The party also termed as "anti-national" Modi's silence on Pakistan-China "jugalbandi" during Operation Sindoor.

Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that for a long time, India has been accusing China of its "double standards" and "double-speak" on terrorism.

"Now, Prime Minister Modi tells President Xi that India and China are both victims of terrorism. If this is not the so-called elephant capitulating before the so-called dragon, then what is it?" he said on X.

"Even more anti-national is the fact that Prime Minister Modi remained completely silent in his conversation with President Xi about China's jugalbandi with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor – something revealed by top Indian Army officials themselves," Ramesh said.

"The self-proclaimed 56-inch chested leader now stands thoroughly exposed. He betrayed the national interest with his clean chit to China on June 19, 2020. Now, August 31, 2025, will also go down as a day of infamy for his cowardly kowtowing in Tianjin," the Congress leader said.

India and China on Sunday vowed to expand trade and investment ties to stabilise global commerce as Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi agreed to deepen bilateral ties to combat pressing challenges and work towards a "fair" solution to the festering border issue.

The talks between the two leaders covered a range of issues, including reducing India-China trade deficit, tackling challenges like terrorism, and ensuring fair trade on multilateral platforms.

The Ministry of External Affairs said, in their talks, Modi and Xi reaffirmed that the two countries are development partners, and not rivals, and that their differences should not turn into disputes.

Modi also mentioned the challenge of cross-border terrorism and pitched for extending support to each other to combat the menace, as both India and China have been impacted by it, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.

Misri said the issue of cross-border terrorism was mentioned by PM Modi as a "priority".

"He did underline the fact that this is something that impacts both India and China, and that it's important therefore that we extend understanding and extend support to each other," Misri said at a media briefing.

"And I would say that we have received the understanding and cooperation of China as we have dealt with the issue of cross-border terrorism in the context of the ongoing SCO Summit," he added.