New Delhi, Dec 3: The Congress on Tuesday attacked the government after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar apprised the Lok Sabha on the recent developments in the India-China border areas and asked when will the status quo of April 2020 be restored.
The opposition party said if the status quo is not restored then “all this is mere lip service”, referring to Jaishankar’s statement.
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India on Tuesday said it is committed to remaining engaged with China to find a fair and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary issue but the relations will be contingent upon strictly respecting the sanctity of the Line of Actual Control and following pacts on border management with no attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo.
In his statement in the Lok Sabha, Jaishankar said the disengagement of troops has been achieved in “full” in eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok, and India now expects the commencement of talks on remaining issues that it had placed on the agenda.
Asked about Jaishankar’s statement, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “There is only one question in the case of China — when will the status quo of April 2020 be restored, if it is not being restored then all these things are a mere lip service and it is the great misfortune of this country that China quotes the prime minister in those meetings and says — ‘your prime minister also says that no one has intruded’.” “This country is paying the price for that one unflinching lie,” she said.
She also questioned Jaishankar on the attacks on Hindus and temples in Bangladesh.
“You will shrug off the responsibility like this, our saints, our priests are being arrested there, our people are being tortured there, it does not matter to you. Why are you posing as Vishwaguru, Vishwa Bandhu, Vishwavidhata and who knows who else? You used to stop the war, but you are not able to save our people,” she said.
Jaishankar’s detailed statement came weeks after Indian and Chinese militaries completed the disengagement of troops from two last face-off points in eastern Ladakh, effectively ending the over four-year military face-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
“The next priority will be to consider de-escalation, which would address the massing of troops along the LAC with associated accompaniments,” he said.
“It is also evident that the management of the border areas will require further attention in the light of our recent experiences.” On India’s expectation on the direction of its ties with China in the near future, he said maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a prerequisite.
“Our relationship had progressed in many domains, but was obviously negatively affected by recent events. We are clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a pre-requisite for the development of our ties,” Jaishankar said.
“In the coming days, we will be discussing both de-escalation as well as effective management of our activities in the border areas,” he said. (Agencies)
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