PM Modi should explain why we are normalising relations with China: Congress

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong had jointly cut a cake to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties by India and China is a clear signal that the Modi government has decided to accept the "greatest loss of Indian territory in decades, surrendering over 2,000 sq km of land in Ladakh in the guise of disengagement".

In a statement, Congress General Secretary, Communications, Jairam Ramesh demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the people of the country into confidence and explain why he is normalising relations with China.

He said there is consistency in the prime minister's approach which started with his "clean chit" to China after the Galwan incident and alleged that the government has failed to assuage widespread concerns over the India-China agreement that represents a major "setback to India’s territorial integrity and national interest".

"We reiterate our demand that the Prime Minister take the people into confidence on this issue of critical national importance and explain why we are normalising relations with China and deepening our economic dependence on them even as our territorial integrity remains so gravely compromised," Ramesh said in his statement.

He said yesterday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong jointly cut a cake to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China and President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanged greetings with their respective Chinese counterparts President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

"What takes the cake is how this is a clear signal that the Modi government has decided to accept the greatest loss of Indian territory in decades, surrendering over 2,000 sq km of land in Ladakh in the guise of disengagement.

"There is a consistency in the PM’s pusillanimous approach to China. It started with the infamous public clean chit he gave to China, when he declared 'Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai' on live television, only four days after 20 of our brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in Galwan on 15 June 2020," the Congress leader said.

"It continues today in the Modi Government’s failure to safeguard our sovereignty while pursuing normalisation with China. More than four months after the signing of the disengagement agreement of 21 October 2024, the Indian government has failed to assuage widespread concerns that the agreement represents a major setback to India’s territorial integrity and national interest," he said.

In this regard, he cited several "disturbing facts" that have been reported and alleged that the Modi government has emasculated the very idea of the patrol as a signal of territorial assertion.

Today, he said, Indian patrols need Chinese concurrence to access five locations in the strategically important Depsang Plains (Patrolling Points 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13). Chinese concurrence is also reportedly required for patrols in Demchok and Chumar.

"In Galwan, the 'buffer zone' that Indian troops are prevented from entering has been set 1 km inside the Indian claim line. This means Chinese troops are posted close to our claim line while Indian troops are more than 2.4 km away.

"In Hot Spring, the buffer zone has in effect moved the LAC 1-3 km inside the Indian claim line. In Pangong Tso, the “buffer zone” prevents our troops from going beyond Finger 3 when earlier they could go 10 km further to Finger 8," he said.

This, the Congress leader said, is nowhere close to the status quo that existed prior to April 2020 – which has been the consistent demand made by our Armed Forces and defence establishment.

Instead, it represents significant territorial losses for India vis-à-vis our position before April 2020, he claimed.

"Even amidst the Chinese incursions on our sovereignty, our economic dependence on China continues to grow. Chinese imports have exceeded USD 100 billion and are headed higher in 2024-25, with our trade deficit vis-à-vis China also hitting record highs...," Ramesh said.

India and China have made "promising" beginnings to repair their ties in the last five months and a "durable base" for rebuilding the relations depends on a threefold formula of mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Tuesday.

As two large neighbours in an important part of the world, a stable bilateral relationship between India and China would contribute to humanity as a whole, he said.

The foreign secretary was speaking at an event hosted by the Chinese embassy on the occasion of the establishment of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

It was for the first time that a high-level Indian official attended an event hosted by the Chinese embassy since the ties between the two neighbours came under severe strain following the clash at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020.

At the event, Misri said, "The path forward may be a difficult one, but it is the one that we are prepared to walk and it is on the basis of these steps that we have already taken in the last five months that we have seen promising beginnings, which we should turn into tangible benefit for the people of our two countries."

"This will make today's celebration even more meaningful for the future," he had said.