Jairam Ramesh targets Union minister over claim on LAC with China

JAIPUR: Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh questioned the external affairs minister's (EAM) claim that India will not let China change the line of actual control (LAC) status unilaterally.
Jairam in a series of questions asked, "Has the status quo not been altered by the Chinese troops 18-km deep in Depsang in the last two years? Is it not altered by the fact that our troops are unable to access 1,000-sq km of territory in eastern Ladakh that they earlier patrolled? Is it not altered by the fact that we have agreed to buffer zones that prevent our patrols from going to areas they previously could go to? When will the external affairs minister unequivocally declare that restoration of the pre-2020 status quo is our objective?" Jairam is accompanying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his BJY asked.
He said the EAM claims that relations with China are "not normal". Then why have we never called the Chinese Ambassador and issued a démarche as we do with the Pakistan High Commissioner? Why is our trade dependence on China at a record high with imports at $95 billion in 2021-22 and the trade deficit at $74 billion? Why did our troops conduct military exercises with Chinese troops at Russia's Vostok-22 exercise in September 2022?