The Congress on Friday rued the fact that after such a hype created by the NDA Government over the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to take up two crucial issues — dams on Brahmaputra and that concerning Arunachal Pradesh — with the Chinese premier.
The party also pointed that when the Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiu hailed from Aruanchal Pradesh and holds and important portfolio in his Government, Modi chose to “hide” his Minister during the Jinping’s visit.
“We should not be self conscious with China when it comes to our northeast and our citizens there. Our belief is that on this occasion, we should not have been afraid about Arunachal Pradesh. We should have said things clearly whether it was the visa policy or anything else. This was an opportunity when MoS Home Affairs Rijiju should have been brought to the front to show that we are proud that a Minister from Arunachal is also at such an important role. Was it necessary to hide him or keep him behindIJ I think these questions should be answered,” former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
On a day when Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on the Chinese president, the party maintained that good relations were important but not at the cost of “security and dignity.”
Attacking the Government for trying to “event manage” the visit, Khurshid said it was being projected as “enormously successful” visit, but the fact was different and for the first time that there were not only uniformed troops of China but also either civilians or people from the military dressed as civilians trying to establish their claim over Indian territory.
While Sonia mentioned that the country was commemorating the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal lal Nehru this year, Jinping reminded about Nehru’s relationship with first Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Former PM Manmohan Singh told the Chinese President that “peace and tranquility” at the border is imperative and that all issues as agreed earlier should be resolved. The Congress delegation included its vice-president Rahul Gandhi and senior leaders Karan Singh and Anand Sharma.