Congress hits back at Jaishankar, says govt's China strategy is 'DDLJ - Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify'

The Congress on Monday said the government's strategy to deal with Chinese aggression can be summed up as 'DDLJ- Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify'.

Slamming External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar's recent remarks alleging that some people are deliberately spreading fake news about the border issue with China, party spokesperson and senior leader Jairam Ramesh said that the minister's statement was nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the Centre's 'failed China policy' and the loss of 26 of 65 patrolling stations in Ladakh were evidence of the said policy.

Reflecting on Jaishankar's remark that the 'land was occupied in 1962,' Ramesh added, 'The fact that there is no comparison between 1962, when India went to war with China to defend its territory, and 2020 after which India has acquiesced to Chinese aggression with denials followed by 'disengagements' in which India has lost access to thousands of square kilometres of territory.'

Rahul Gandhi had recently cited a report by a police official which said that India had lost nearly 2,000 square km of territory to the Chinese.

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Taking a shot at this statement of Gandhi, Jaishankar had slammed the leader saying, 'The land that opposition leaders said had been occupied by China was in fact occupied in 1962,'

'Sometimes they spread news that they know is false. They project as if it happened just now, when it, in fact, happened in 1962...They won't talk about that,' Jaishankar had said.

Ramesh, in his statement, retorted, 'It is extraordinary that (Foreign Minister) Jaishankar has admitted on several occasions that he has no idea why China has turned aggressive on the Line of Actual Control, notwithstanding the unusually frequent contacts between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping and the PM's boast that he enjoys a special 'Plus One' relationship with President Xi.'

He said the government 'Should have been truthful from the start and taken the opposition into confidence by discussing the China crisis in parliamentary standing committees, debating it in parliament, or at least speaking with leaders of major political parties.'