Congress on Sunday asked whether external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s recent statement in Parliament “on the recent developments in India’s relations with China” signalled the Modi government “accepting a settlement that does not return the LAC (Line of Actual Control) to the April 2020 status quo” and whether it had settled for a “new status quo” as the “new normal”.
The main opposition party also asked whether the Army brass and the external affairs ministry had a different perspective on the border pact. Seeking clarity on whether the Indian side had ensured access to all traditional patrolling points, buffer zones as well the grazing rights, Congress said it was asking questions because the MPs were not permitted to seek clarifications when Jaishankar made the statement and given that China had yet to elaborate on the details of disengagement in Depsang and Demchok.
While asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated after clashes in Galwan Valley that nobody had breached the Indian border, Congress also pitched for a full-fledged debate in Parliament on the full gamut of the India-China relationship.
“The EAM’s statement in Parliament stated that ‘(i)n a few other places where friction occurred in 2020, steps of a temporary and limited nature were worked out, based on local conditions, to obviate the possibility of further friction’. This clearly refers to so-called ‘buffer zones’ to which our troops and livestock herders are denied access that they previously had. These statements taken together suggest that the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) is accepting a settlement that does not return the LAC to the April 2020 status quo as desired by the Army and the nation. Is it not clear now that the Modi government has agreed to a new status quo and agreed to live with the ‘new normal’ after the ‘old normal’ prevailing prior to April 2020 was unilaterally disturbed by China?” the Congress said in a statement issued by its communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh.
The opposition party further said, “On 22 October 2024 Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi restated India’s longstanding position: ‘As far as we are concerned, we want to go back to the status quo of April 2020… thereafter we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of the LAC.’
However, the Ministry of External Affairs statement following the 32nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs on 5 December 2024 stated that ‘the two sides positively affirmed the implementation of the most recent disengagement agreement which completed the resolution of the issues that emerged in 2020’. Does this not reveal a shift in our official position?”
Pointing out that China had yet to comment on the details of disengagement in Depsang and Demchok, Congress asked, “Have traditional grazing rights for Indian livestock herders been restored? Will there be unfettered access to our traditional patrolling points? Have the buffer zones ceded during previous negotiations been taken back by India?”
Congress once again asked why PM Modi had stated on June 19, 2020, “Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai (Neither has anybody breached our border nor is anybody intruding)”.
