'Has India-China border dispute been resolved?' asks Congress after EAM says PM Modi, Xi talked bilateral ties in Bali

A day after the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping not only exchanged courtesies at the G20 summit in Bali last November, but also spoke on the need to stabilise bilateral relations, the Congress on Friday asked the Union government whether a consensus between India and China on the border dispute has been reached.

Taking to twitter Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Ever since Prime Minister’s public clean chit to China on June 19th, 2020, the Modi government has been acting as if it is being tough on China, and that there have been no compromises or meaningful conversations between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping while Chinese troops remain in violation of previous LAC agreements.”

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He added, “On November 16, 2022, he said, the Modi government characterised a dinner conversation between the two leaders at Bali as just an exchange of courtesies.”

He further said that “On July 25, 2023, he claimed that a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement mentioned an important consensus reached by PM Modi and President Xi in Bali.”

Ramesh asked whether Chinese troops from Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh will now be withdrawn.

“On July 27, our Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that more than mere courtesies were exchanged at Bali. Is this a consensus or a concession by PM Modi? Will Chinese troops finally withdraw from Depsang and Demchok where they have blocked Indian patrols for more than three years,” Ramesh asked.

Meanwhile, he claimed that economic relations between the two countries are proceeding “as if the Chinese incursions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh never even happened.”
“So much for ‘lal aankh’!” the Congress leader said.

The Congress has been critical of the government’s handling of the border dispute with China.

The government confirmation on Thursday came two days after Beijing claimed that PM Modi and Xi Jinping reached an “important consensus” on stabilising bilateral ties during their interaction at the G20 Summit in Bali.

“During the Bali G20 summit last year, the Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping, at the conclusion of the dinner hosted by the Indonesian President, exchanged pleasantries and discussed the necessity of stabilising our bilateral relations,” said Arindam Bagchi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson.

He said, “Our consistent stance has been that resolving the issue along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western sector of the India-China boundary and restoring peace and tranquillity in the border areas is crucial for the overall resolution.”

Bagchi made the comments in response to the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout of the meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and top diplomat Wang Yi in Johannesburg earlier this week, in which it said PM Modi and Xi reached a consensus in Bali on stabilising relations.

The MEA had previously mentioned the exchange of pleasantries between PM Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, which was their first public interaction since the border standoff began in May 2020.

“I think the foreign secretary did mention. Maybe he didn’t mention the second part of it. He did talk about extending courtesies and I think there was a general discussion on the need to stabilise our bilateral relations and how we see that,” Bagchi said.

With inputs from agencies