Jaishankar hits out at Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal over comments on India-China tensions

Jaishankar said that India had to import goods from China because the earlier governments had not given adequate support and protection to the industries

The word ‘pitai’ (beating) should not be used for the Indian Army soldiers deployed to defend the nation’s borders against the aggression of China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha, tacitly objecting to a recent remark by Rahul Gandhi of the Congress.

The external affairs minister also said at another event in New Delhi that the Indian Army would not let the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control – the de facto boundary between the two nations – unilaterally.

He countered Aam Aadmi Party’s supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s criticism against the government for continuing to allow increasing import of goods from China despite the communist country’s belligerence against India.

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He said that India had to import goods from China, because the earlier governments had not given adequate support and protection to the industries for almost 30 years. “It is only now in recent years that you have started to do it. Now you cannot reverse in five or 10 years what you have done in 30 years," he said.

Three days after Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of hiding and ignoring the threat posed by China’s belligerence along its disputed boundary with India, Jaishankar countered the allegation both inside and outside Parliament.

“The word 'pitai' (beating) should not be used for our jawans. Our jawans are standing their ground. They should be respected, they should be honoured, and they should be appreciated,” Jaishankar said while responding to a discussion on the Anti Maritime Piracy Bill, which was later passed by the Lok Sabha.

Gandhi had alleged in Jaipur on Friday that China had taken away 2,000 sq kms of land of India (in eastern Ladakh), killed 20 Indian Army soldiers (in Galwan Valley) and beat up jawans in Arunachal Pradesh. He had been apparently referring to the December 9 clash between the Indian Army soldiers and the Chinese PLA personnel at Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh.

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“There is no problem with political differences or criticism of the government's action, but, I think we should not directly or indirectly criticise our jawans. When our jawans are standing in Yangtse at 13,000 feet, defending our borders, they do not deserve the word 'pitai' (beating),” Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha, tacitly countering the comment made by Gandhi.

Jaishankar also countered the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remarks that the government was indifferent towards the threat posed by China towards the national security of India.

"If we were indifferent to China then who sent the Indian Army to defend our posts? If we were indifferent to China then why are we pressurising China for de-escalation and disengagement? Why are we saying publicly that our relations are not normal," said the external affairs minister.

Gandhi had also commented in Jaipur that Jaishankar kept speaking, but perhaps needed to make his understanding deeper. “I have heard that my own understanding needs to be deepened. When I see who is giving the advice, I can only bow and respect,” the external affairs minister said in the Lok Sabha on Monday, taking a dig at the leader of the Congress.

Earlier, speaking at an event in New Delhi, Jaishankar said that it was the obligation of the Indian State and the duty and commitment of the Indian Army not to let China change the LAC unilaterally.

“Today we have a deployment of the Indian Army on the China border that we have never had. It is done in order to counter Chinese deployment which has been scaled up massively since 2020,” he said, adding: “If we were in denial then how is the Army out there? The Army did not go there because Rahul Gandhi asked them to go. Army went there because the prime minister of India ordered them to go.”