Pakistan, China in a tango due to Congress government’s decisions: EAM Jaishankar in Rajya Sabha | India News
NEW DELHI: EAM S Jaishankar Wednesday took a swipe at Congress netas pretending to have expertise on India’s bilateral ties with China, calling them “China gurus” while countering their claims that Pakistan and China have come closer in recent years. He said the two have come close over decades as earlier Congress regimes left the land of POK between them.Intervening during the discussion on Operation Sindoor in Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar dismissed opposition’s questions on whether US President Trump brokered the ceasefire, saying there was no call between PM Modi and Trump between April 22 and June 16. The ceasefire was announced on May 10. He also said the halt to military action was not linked to trade, as Trump claimed.Countering claims made by Rahul Gandhi that Pakistan and China are working as a nexus, the EAM said the countries are in a tango because of the decisions taken during Congress’s governance. “There are China gurus now, one is an honourable member sitting across me (Jairam Ramesh). His affection for China was so much he conjoined India and China – Chindia. There is another China guru (referring to Rahul),” the minister said. The term Chindia was used by Ramesh in his book ‘Making Sense of Chindia: Reflections on China and India’.“China gurus say Pakistan and China have close ties; that is true. But how did they come close? It was because in the middle, we had left POK. This has been happening since 1962 and 1963. In 1963, Pakistan gave Shaksgam Valley to China. Karakoram highway’s planning started in 1967 and finished in 1986. You know whose govt was there. Military cooperation between Pakistan and China happened in 1967 and nuclear collaboration happened in 1976, and they make it appear that all this has happened overnight...,” the EAM said.Jaishankar drew a comparison between how past govts and Modi regime responded to terrorism. Months after the blasts in Mumbai trains (July 2006), he said, there was a meeting in Havana in Sept where an agreement was signed between PMs of India and Pakistan. “Instead of holding Pakistan responsible, we said we condemn all acts of terrorism and agree it’s a scourge that needs to be dealt with and by the way we will resume our composite dialogue… You were equating the perpetrator and victim,” he said. Referring to the 26/11 attack in Mumbai in 2008, Jaishankar said in July 2009, at a meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, it was agreed that terrorism was the main threat to “both countries”. “After a gruesome terror attack, they were ready for dialogue. How can the world take you seriously?” he said.
