Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “end his silence” on China and whether he still believes in the “infamous clean chit” he gave to the neighbouring country by saying that ‘no one infiltrated into India and no one is inside our territory’.
Congress’ attack on Modi came on the “fourth anniversary” of his remarks that “na koi hamara seema mein ghus aaya hei, na hi koi ghusa hua hai”, a remark the Opposition claims that has come in handy for China as it legitimised Chinese control over Indian land that they usurped.
In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said Modi’s remark came four days after the June 15, 2020 clash in Galwan in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
Modi “must end his silence. Does he still believe that “Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai”? Has he ceded control over thousands of square kilometres in Depsang and Demchok to China for the foreseeable future? And when will anyone be held accountable for India's biggest strategic and intelligence failure in many decades?” he said.
“Not only was it a profound insult to our fallen soldiers, it also legitimised Chinese control over 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh. Indian troops are unable to access these areas to this day. Chinese forces continue to block Indian access in the strategic Depsang Plains at five patrolling points,” Ramesh said.
China has continued its “aggressive moves” along the border, including in Bhutanese territory, since Modi's clean chit, he said.
Three more patrolling points in Demchok remain out of bounds for Indian soldiers while in Pangong Tso, Indian troops are restricted to Finger 3 when earlier they could go as far as Finger 8m he said.
Indian graziers are no longer able to access Helmet Top, Mukpa Re, Rezang La, Rinchen La, Table Top and Gurung Hill in Chushul while in the Gogra-Hot Springs area, they can no longer access Patrolling Points 15, 16 and 17, he said adding India had to dismantle a memorial to a war hero and ceded the area as “buffer zone”.
Emphasising that this represented a “major loss of territory to our hostile, northern neighbour”, he said, China had “expanded its influence” in India’s immediate neighbourhood resulting in the removal of our troops from the Maldives.
“All this while our imports from China hit record levels, causing our MSMEs to suffer. Meanwhile, the Modi government has used the ‘Godi media’ and its control over institutions to ensure that there is no proper debate on the biggest setback to Indian national security in sixty years,” he added.