Congress Speaker Manish Tewari said, as a responsible opposition, we ask all leaders to convene an all-party meeting and discuss the situation in China
Published Date – Thu 06 Apr 23 at 08:20 AM
New Delhi: On Wednesday, Congress asked the government to convene an all-party meeting on the situation on the Sino-Indian border and expressed confidence in the entire opposition.
Congress leader and senior spokesman Manish Tewari told a news conference that it has been three years since the standoff with China began in May 2020 along the Line of Actual Control, but the government has remained silent on the issue and will not allow Any discussions on this in the US. parliament.
“As a responsible opposition, we ask all leaders to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the situation in China. After three years of standoff, the government should have kept secrets from all opposition, telling them the developments of the past three years and ongoing negotiations, And give them a summary,” he told reporters.
He said the government “should have confidence in the opposition and call a meeting of senior opposition leaders and give them a full briefing on the talks with China on border peace”.
Tewari also asked how and why incursions or border crossings at multiple points occurred in the LAC and why this issue is still relevant since a complete infrastructure has been put in place since 1993 to avoid border conflicts and maintain peace there.
The congressional leader said he himself had asked 65 questions in parliament about the border clashes since September 2020, when parliament first convened after the first clashes, but the same questions hadn’t even been accepted.
“The government is not prepared to answer any questions about China and will not give any answers. What is happening at the border is opaque,” he said.
Regarding China’s question on the renaming of several places in Arunachal Pradesh, he said that it is very irresponsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to say that such things have been happening in the past.
The last time China did this, there was a strong protest from the then UPA government and “we want a sharp statement from the government because the action raises questions about India’s integrity and should be condemned,” he said.
Tewari also said that from 2000 to 2022, the total trade volume between India and China has increased to 136 billion U.S. dollars, of which imports are 119 billion U.S. dollars, while exports to China are only 17.5 billion U.S. dollars.
