Owaisi questions PM Modi’s handshake with Chinese Xi after Jaishankar’s ‘very firm on China’ remark

"Yes, Mr Jaishankar. Our 56-inch PM has been very firm on China by claiming only four days after the Galwan clash that no one has entered Indian territory. So much for his silence, you boast of," he said in a tweet.

New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 event in Bali after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that PM Modi has been “very firm” on China.

In a series of tweets, the AIMIM chief questioned PM Modi‘s alleged statement that he gave days after the Galwan clash.

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“Yes, Mr Jaishankar. Our 56-inch PM has been very firm on China by claiming only four days after the Galwan clash that no one has entered Indian territory. So much for his silence, you boast of,” he said in a tweet.

He further said, “If the defensive deployment of the army in Ladakh to prevent further Chinese ingress is a great achievement of Mr Modi, who is responsible for the failure to retain control of the territory in Ladakh lost to the PLA in 2020? There is something called political accountability.” Owaisi said that the country has a weak and scared political leadership where the foreign minister only has excuses to offer.

“Like most Indians, I believe that our army is capable of restoring the status quo ante as of April 2020 in Ladakh if the government had the political will. We have a weak and scared political leadership where its foreign minister only has excuses to offer,” he said.

“To quote the erstwhile CM of Gujarat, ‘the problem is not on the border, the problem is in Delhi.’ The same man boasted of showing red eyes to China but now runs up to shake Xi’s hand at Bali,” said the AIMIM chief.

Owaisi questioned why the government was running away from a discussion in Parliament when it is so certain of its China policy.

“If the government is so certain of its China policy, why is it running away from a discussion in Parliament? Why have all my questions on the border crisis been denied by the government? What is the government hiding from the people of this country?” he said.

“When are our patrols going to resume their patrolling areas in Ladakh they were going before April 2020? When will Depsang and Demchok be resolved? When will de-escalation happen in areas of disengagement? Will PM answer these questions?” he further said.

While speaking at a media event, Jaishankar had said that “PM Modi has been “very firm on China and he should be judged by the strong deployment of our forces on the Sino-India border,” while rejecting the opposition’s criticism of the Prime Minister’s recent handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“I don’t think the Prime Minister has postured publicly on China. I think the Prime Minister has been very firm on China. The Prime Minister has been very clear and not just in his words, he has actually been very clear in his actions. Please understand the efforts that were made from 2020 onwards in maintaining such a large force on our borders. It is an enormous enterprise,” Jaishankar said.

Apparently responding to the criticism after the handshake between PM Modi and President Xi at the G20 summit in Bali earlier this month, Jaishankar said, “I guess there are people who can take positions, especially if they are free of responsibility, you can be pretty casual or thoughtless of what you say. It is a free country, people are entitled to say things. I think responsible, sensible people will see that there are ways in which a leader of India behaves.” PM Modi met Chinese President Xi and shook hands earlier this month at the G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, Indonesia.

Notably, this is the first handshake since China’s Peoples Liberation Army and the Indian Army’s standoff in eastern Ladakh in April 2020.

The relations between India and China soured following a standoff in April-May 2020 over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including the Finger Area, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, and Kongrung Nala. The situation worsened after violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June.

In June 2020, the two armies were engaged in a violent clash that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and several Chinese troops.