Congress questions PM's silence on China, demands white paper on LAC situation

New Delhi, June 19 The Congress on Monday again raised the issue of the China border row and demanded a white paper on the situation prevailing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Congress has demanded a detailed discussion on the issue in the coming Monsoon session of the Parliament.

Addressing a press conference on the third anniversary of the Galwan Valley clashes at the party headquarters here, Congress MP Manish Tewari said: "The nation deserves to know the truth about the situation along the LAC with China, in view of the contradictory statements made at the highest level in the government."

Tewari also played a video statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made on June 19, 2020, where he had denied that any incursions by the Chinese had taken place or they had taken possession of any land under India's control.

Tewari said that the Prime Minister had given a virtual clean chit to the Chinese while the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said that the Chinese army had intruded and tried to set up a tent inside the Indian territory.

Twenty Indian soldiers had been martyred (in Galwan), Tewari pointed out.

"If there was no incursion, why did the External Aaairs Minister speak with his Chinese counterpart on PLA's intrusions? Besides, what did Defence Minister Rajnath Singh discuss with his Chinese counterpart during his two-and-a-half-hour meeting in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Conference," Tewari asked.

The Congress leader said that External Affairs Minister had held a one-and-a-half hour meeting with his Chinese counterpart during the India-Russia-China trilateral meet a little later.

He also referred to a letter written by the SSP of Leh, where was mentioned that of the 65 patrolling points, India had lost control over 26.

"Why did the government of India not react to the written representation by the Leh SSP," Tewari asked.

He also asked that what transpired in 18 India-China commander level meetings during the last three years and whether it is true that China is insisting on creating a buffer zone 20 to 25 km inside the "Indian perception of the LAC"?

The Congress leader also referred to reports in a newspaper published in the eastern part of the country, stating that the PLA had built a village inside the LAC.

He asked what was the government's response to the infrastructure being built by the Chinese along the Bhutan border overlooking the Chicken Neck area.

"What counter measures is the government of India taking about it," he asked.

Tewari further said that what was the reason that no questions on China were entertained by the Parliament secretariat, and also referred to a recent interview of the US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, where he had reportedly disclosed that India was against using strong words about China in Indo-US or QUAD joint statements as, according to him (the US Ambassador), India did not want to "poke" China.

Demanding a detailed debate and discussion on the issue in the Parliament, Tewari said: "The Congress does not want to turn the issue of national security into a political football match. A discussion in the Parliament will convey a strong and clear message that every Indian and every Indian political party is united when it comes to unity and integrity of the country, and there can be no compromise on that."

He also highlighted that the Congress had done it in 1994 and 2012 when it had got unanimous resolutions passed in the Parliament that the only unfinished agenda of the Partition of the country was to get back the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

Responding to a query about BJP questioning Rahul Gandhi's meeting with the Chinese Ambassador, raised by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tewari said: "Well, I would not even want to dignify such delirium with the response. I would expect that responsible ministers, when they articulate on something as sensitive as China and on issues with regard to the LAC raised by responsible and senior opposition leaders, will react in a manner which is both responsible and sensitive.

"So, therefore, this delirium which has just been articulated... I don't even think dignifies a response and perhaps does great disservice to the cause of India's national security."

Earlier, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh had also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the China issue.