Centre's China Strategy Is "DDLJ - Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify": Congress

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar's sharp digs at Rahul Gandhi over his comments on the reports of loss of Indian territory to China drew a sharp retort today from the Congress, which dropped a new term to target the government with - "DDLJ".

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said since May 2020, the Modi government's strategy to deal with Chinese incursions in Ladakh could be summed up as "DDLJ - Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify".

Mr Jaishankar's comments were simply an attempt to divert attention from the government's "failed China policy".

"No amount of obfuscation can hide the fact that the Modi government has sought to cover up India's biggest territorial setback in decades that followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's naive wooing of President Xi Jinping. We suggest that EAM Jaishankar and the government spend more time trying to get Chinese troops out of Depsang and Demchok and less time on blaming the opposition for their own incompetence."

On Saturday, Mr Jaishankar said the land that opposition leaders said had been occupied by China "was in fact occupied in 1962", in a reference to the war when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. The Foreign Minister said sometimes "they (opposition)" spread news they know is false.

He was reacting to Rahul Gandhi citing a report by a senior police officer that India has lost access to 26 of 65 patrolling points in Eastern Ladakh.

"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," Mr Ramesh said.

The Congress leader also referred to what he called an "implied cheap shot at Rahul Gandhi" by the Foreign Minister for meeting the Chinese ambassador in 2017.

"(It) is ironic to say the least coming from someone who as ambassador to the US during the Obama administration presumably met with leading Republicans. Are opposition leaders not entitled to meet diplomats from countries that are important from a trade, investment and security standpoint," Mr Ramesh questioned.

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.

"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," the Congress leader said.