Congress reminds BJP of its mishandling of the ‘China challenge’

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh on Monday drew attention to what external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had once stated — while distancing the party from a statement from Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda. Jaishankar had gone on record to state, "Theirs is the bigger economy; what are we expected to do? Being a smaller economy, do we pick up a fight with a bigger economy?"

Responding to the BJP’s broadside that the IOC chairman and the Congress should apologise for his statement made in an interview to IANS, Ramesh posted on X, “The views reportedly expressed by Mr. Sam Pitroda on China are most definitely NOT the views of the Indian National Congress. China remains our foremost foreign policy, external security, as well as economic challenge.

"The INC has repeatedly raised questions on the Modi Govt's approach to China, including the PM's public clean chit to it on June 19, 2020. Our most recent statement on China was on 28th January, 2025. It is also extremely regrettable that Parliament is being denied an opportunity to discuss the situation and express a collective resolve to meet these challenges effectively.”

Ramesh also accused the ruling BJP government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of mishandling relations with Beijing. In a statement attached to the X post, Ramesh said, "The Congress party notes the announcement by the Modi government of normalisation of ties with China at a time when there are still many unanswered questions about the disengagement agreement of 21 October 2024.

"New Delhi and Beijing have agreed to restore commercial and cultural ties including direct flights between the two capitals, resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, liberalised visa regime and other measures following the recent Beijing visit of the Foreign Secretary."

For the record, the IOC chairman had said in the interview, “To assume that China is the enemy from day one. It is not fair…our attitude has been that of confrontation from day one, and that attitude creates enemies, and that creates certain support within the country. I think, we need to change that pattern.

"To assume that China is the enemy from day one is not fair, not just to China, but to anybody...it is time for us to learn to increase communication, collaborate, cooperate and co-create, and not have this command and control mindset…"

He also questioned the perception of China as a threat. "I don't know what is the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has the habit of defining an enemy."

Even as the BJP pounced on Pitroda’s statement to accuse the Congress and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of having a soft spot for China, PM Modi and BJP-RSS leaders have themselves been frequent visitors to China and Chinese universities, both before and after 2014.  

Indeed, PM Modi has the distinction of visiting China far more frequently than any other Indian prime minister. RSS ideologue and BJP leader Ram Madhav, too, has been a frequent visitor to India's northern neighbour and as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi had invited a number of Chinese companies to set up shop in the state. His bonhomie with Chinese president Xi Jinping is a matter of public record, until relations soured in 2019-20 and especially after the skirmish between soldiers at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh following a Chinese intrusion.

The PM’s clean chit to China and his statement that there was no intrusion into Indian territory continues to haunt him politically to this day. The BJP’s latest broadside was apparently prompted by a recent video shared by Gandhi, in which he had drawn attention to China's remarkable advancements in the areas of artificial intelligence and developing sophisticated military and industrial drones, and expressed concern that India was ceding ground to China in these areas.