Congress vs Jaishankar row continues, party reacts to EAM remarks on India as smaller "economy" to fight China

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on Wednesday termed External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar a "failed" foreign minister and alleged that despite being the longest serving diplomat in China, he has failed on every front.

Referring to EAM Jaishankar's statement in a TV channel interview that India being a smaller economy can't go and fight bigger economy, she said the statement is "blasphemous" and weakens India's stand vis-a-vis China on many fronts.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Shrinate said, "On issue of Chinese incursions, there is silence from the EAM and has he advised the Prime Minister to say that no one has intruded Indian territory when 2,000 sq kilometre of the Indian territory has been intruded by China."

The Congress leader alleged that China is building roads, railway networks and bridges in the occupied territory. The Indian trade is increasing with China and in a way India is funding the Chinese PLA, "Due to the silence of the PM in every meeting, PLA says they have not invaded any land," she added.

Accusing the Foreign Minister of failing India foreign policy, she said there is no US Ambassador to India despite Biden almost crossing his half the term as President.

The Congress spokesperson said that when the government is saying that there is international conspiracy against India, "what is Mr Jaishankar and his department doing."

She asked the BJP-led government that if it claims all is well in the country, "why are so many citizens leaving India". The number of Indian citizens renouncing citizenship has gone up significantly in the last couple of years, with 1.63 lakh doing so in 2021 and 2.25 lakh in 2022.

What Jaishankar said? 

Earlier, in an exclusive to the news agency ANI, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar fired back at Rahul Gandhi on his frequent criticism of what he describes as the government's "defensive" China policy.

"If I would have to sum up this China thing, please do not buy this narrative that somewhere the government is on the defensive...somewhere we are being accommodative. I ask people if we were being accommodative who sent the Indian Army to the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Rahul Gandhi did not send them. Narendra Modi sent them," Dr Jaishankar said. 

The Foreign Minister, taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his foreign policy comment, said he was ready to listen to the Congress MP if he has "superior knowledge and wisdom" on China.

"I think he said this somewhere in a public meeting. It is probably in the context of China. All I can say in my defence is I have been the longest-serving ambassador in China. I have been dealing with a lot of these border issues for a very long time. I am not suggesting that I am necessarily the most knowledgeable person, but I would have a fairly good self-opinion of my understanding of what is up there. If he has superior knowledge and wisdom on China, I am always willing to listen. As I said, for me life is a learning process. If that is a possibility, I have never closed my mind to anything however improbable that may be," Dr Jaishankar remarked.

On the Congress and other opposition parties slamming the government over Chinese constructions at the Pangong Lake region in Ladakh, the Foreign Minister said the area had been under illegal occupation of China since the 1962 war.

Congress forgetting 1962: Jaishankar

"When did that area actually come under Chinese control? They (Congress) must have some problem understanding words beginning with 'C'. I think they are deliberately misrepresenting the situation. The Chinese first came there in 1958 and the Chinese captured it in October 1962. Now you are going to blame the Modi government in 2023 for a bridge which the Chinese captured in 1962 and you don't have the honesty to say that it is where it happened," Dr Jaishankar said.

"Rajiv Gandhi went to Beijing in 1988...signed agreements in 1993 and 1996. I do not think signing those agreements was wrong. This is not a political point I am making. I think those agreements were signed at that time because we needed to stabilise the border. And they did stabilise the border.

The opposition party should look at what happened in 1962, he said and added, "Personally, I can get into a blame game, what happened in 1962, it happened, but now if you whitewash all that everything happened only in 2023... I have to call you out."

(With inputs from agencies)