Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at him, saying he is “now running a full blown circus aimed at destroying India’s foreign policy”.
Photo : PTI
The Congress on Tuesday intensified its criticism of the Centre’s China policy, accusing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar of “destroying India’s foreign policy” and demanded a full-fledged discussion on the issue during the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.
Reacting to Jaishankar’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a sharp dig at the minister, saying, “The EAM is now running a full blown circus aimed at destroying India’s foreign policy.”
“I guess the Chinese foreign minister will come and apprise Modi about recent developments in China-India ties,” Gandhi posted on X, tagging a report on Jaishankar’s meeting with Xi.
Jaishankar and his counterparts from the SCO member nations on Tuesday met Chinese President Xi.
The attack by Congress came a day after Jaishankar, during his talks with Yi, said India and China should build on “good progress” in normalising bilateral ties to address border-related issues, including de-escalation. Jaishankar also held talks with the Chinese Vice President Han and conveyed to him that continued normalisation of bilateral ties can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the government continues to downplay China’s aggression, despite India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Raju Singh confirming that China supported Pakistan with real-time inputs during Operation Sindoor.
“Perhaps we should remind the EAM of recent developments… China gave total support to Pakistan… turning it into a testing ground for network-centric warfare and weapon systems,” Ramesh said in a statement.
He pointed out that Pakistan may soon acquire Chinese J-35 stealth fighters, while India remains heavily dependent on Chinese imports across sectors like electronics and telecoms. He also flagged China’s restrictions on critical exports and the departure of Chinese workers from Apple supplier Foxconn’s India facilities.
Ramesh asked when the government would “take the people of India into confidence” and hold a debate in Parliament on the status of bilateral ties. “If Parliament could debate the border situation in November 1962… why cannot we discuss now?” he said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate added that Jaishankar’s past comments, including saying India was a “small economy,” showed he routinely downplayed China’s threat.
