Hope PM Modi will finally agree to debate on China during Parliament's Monsoon session: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said it has been calling for a detailed debate on China for the last five years and hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will finally agree to such a discussion in the forthcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.

The opposition party also said it is important to collectively work towards a national consensus on vital national security and economic challenges posed by China's emergence as the world's dominant manufacturing power and as the world's second-largest economy.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Today is the fifth anniversary of PM Modi's infamous clean chit to China, when he said 'Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai' only four days after 20 of our brave soldiers gave their lives for the nation in Galwan on 15 June, 2020." This sorry episode concluded with a withdrawal agreement on October 21, 2024, under which Indian patrols require Chinese concurrence to reach their patrolling points in Depsang, Demchok, and Chumar, he said in a post on X.

"Buffer zones" in Galwan, Hot Spring, and Pangong Tso lie predominantly within the Indian claim line and seemingly permanently prevent our troops from accessing points to which they had unrestricted access before April 2020, Ramesh claimed.

This is nowhere close to the status quo as demanded by our Armed Forces and represents a tremendous territorial setback to India, he further claimed.

Meanwhile, imports from China are booming - especially electronics, electric batteries, and solar cells, he said.

Ramesh pointed out important sectors like telecom, pharmaceuticals, and electronics are critically dependent on Chinese imports.

"The trade deficit with China has reached a record USD 99.2 billion in 2024-25. Meanwhile, exports to China are lower today than they were in 2013-14 despite a much weaker rupee, that should in theory have made exports more competitive," he said.

"This surrender to Chinese economic might is the result of the External Affairs Minister's similarly infamous statement when he said: 'Look, they are the bigger economy. What am I going to do? As a smaller economy, am I going to pick up a fight with the bigger economy?" Ramesh said.

The Congress leader said it is now increasingly clear that China played a pivotally embedded role in Pakistan's military operations during Operation Sindoor.

"This support goes deeper than the supply of weapon systems such as the J-10C fighter and PL-15E air-to-air missile. It encompasses the domains of AI, multi-domain operations and stealth, with Pakistan likely to get up to 40 J-35 stealth fighters from China in the near future," Ramesh said.

The challenge of a single front encompassing our northern and western borders appears to be a reality today, he added.

"The Congress party has been calling for a detailed debate on China for the past five years. That has not happened. We hope that the Prime Minister will finally agree to such a discussion in the forthcoming session of Parliament," Ramesh said.

It is important to collectively work towards a national consensus on these vital national security and economic challenges posed by China's emergence as the world's dominant manufacturing power and as the world's second largest economy - that may well overtake that of the USA in a decade, he said.