Congress says it will wait for details on China’s expulsion, accusing the Prime Minister of weakening India’s position with a statement in June 2020.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

Hours after the Ministry of External Affairs announced progress on the border demarcation process with China, the Congress took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his 2020 remarks had “immeasurably weakened India’s position”.

The party also said that Parliament was never allowed to speak on this issue.

“While we await the full details of the agreement reached between India and China, it is important to remember that Parliament has not been allowed the opportunity to discuss the border situation even once in the last four and a half years,” Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X Monday (October 21, 2024). .

“And can the nation ever forget the words of a non-biological Prime Minister on June 19, 2020, that weakened us beyond measure?” Mr. Ramesh added, marking the statement of Mr. Modi made in the all-party meeting after the Galwan controversy.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister asserted that no one has ever held any Indian office and no one is still living in Indian territory.

“We are waiting for information on the details of the plan agreed with China. The foreign secretary’s language was secret. Let’s hope that when surveillance rights are restored to India, it does not allow the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] to reach areas that were not reached before,” All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi said in a post.

Explaining the need to know the terms of the agreement in the border area, he added: “This should not be a repeat of what we saw in Doklam after 2017 where the PLA got a permanent presence in the area. Unless full details are available, it is difficult to be sure of the outcome.”

In another capacity, Mr. Ramesh also took a swipe at the Prime Minister a day before he left for the BRICS Summit in Russia. He said Kazan is really appealing but “unfortunately Manipur is still waiting”.

Mr. Modi will attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan starting on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), following the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Tomorrow begins the BRICS plus Summit in Kazan, Russia. As with most things that the non-biological PM claims credit for, there is a strong pre-2014 history of such a Congress,” Mr. Ramesh.

Presenting the history of this group, the leader of the Congress pointed out that in November 2001 the British economist Jim O’Neill began naming the name BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – to look at the quartet that could become a major economic power. in the world in 2050.

In June 2009, the presidents of China, Brazil, Russia and the Prime Minister of India met in Russia for the first ever BRIC Summit and South Africa was included in the group two years later when BRIC became BRICS, said Mr Ramesh.

He also added that New Delhi hosted the BRICS Summit in March 2012 and pointed out that BRICS now includes Egypt, Iran, UAE, and Ethiopia as full members.

“A number of other countries are waiting to join. The New Development Bank officially launched by BRICS in July 2014 is headquartered in Shanghai. “Kazan is really begging you but it is sad that Manipur is still waiting,” added Mr. Ramesh.

The Congress also urged the Prime Minister to visit violence-hit Manipur, stressing that it would help restore peace and normalcy there.