Noting Five Years Since Modi's ‘Clean Chit to China’, Congress Calls For Debate In Parliament

New Delhi: Five years ago on Thursday (June 19), Prime Minister Narendra Modi contradicted his government's stance on a Chinese intrusion into Indian territory in eastern Ladakh by saying that ‘no one had intruded’ across the border, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh recalled, also noting that India faces a widening trade deficit with Beijing as well as the threat of deepening collusion between China and Pakistan.

The day marked the “fifth anniversary” of Modi's “infamous clean chit to China”, Ramesh wrote on X in a reference to the prime minister's remarks days after the deadly June 15, 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galwan valley that “neither has anyone intruded into our border, nor is anyone intruding, nor have any of our posts been captured by someone”.

Modi's televised remarks – parts of which were redacted in the official press release that followed and which was later ‘clarified’ by his office – contradicted the external affairs ministry's statement made two days prior saying that the clash of June 15 occurred after “the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in the Galwan valley on our side of the LAC [Line of Actual Control]”.

Many in the strategic community pointed out that the remarks cast a shadow over the clash, including journalist Pravin Sawhney, who asked: “How did 20 unarmed Indian soldiers die? … If no one has intruded into our territory, did India transgress into Chinese territory?” Opposition leaders had also criticised the statement saying it amounted to a concession to China's territorial claims.

At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in an unarmed clash in the over-4,000-metre-high Galwan valley on June 15, 2020, which occurred amid a standoff between the two sides that began the previous month when Indian troops discovered their Chinese counterparts intruding into Indian territory.

In the months that followed the two sides disengaged their troops from around four ‘friction points’ along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Soldiers continued to stand off against each other in the Depsang Plains and in Demchok until New Delhi and Beijing struck another deal in October 2024.

However, the resolution of the stand-off has involved a “tremendous territorial setback to India”, said Ramesh, pointing to the creation of ‘buffer zones’ during the 2020-21 disengagement processes, and adding that India is “nowhere close to the status quo as demanded by our armed forces”.

These buffer zones, he said, “lie predominantly within the Indian claim line and seemingly permanently prevent our troops from accessing points to which they had unrestricted access before April 2020”.

The creation of these buffer zones drew criticism from Indian military analysts who pointed out that Indian soldiers would have to move further back in their own territory and lose patrolling access to a larger area.

The October 2024 deal between India and China did not apply to these buffer zones but only to Depsang and Demchok, where the patrolling arrangement between the two sides had been ‘completed’ in late November per the external affairs ministry. Under this arrangement Indian patrols “require Chinese concurrence to reach their patrolling points”, Ramesh said.

Trade relations and China-Pakistan

Ramesh, who is also his party's communications general secretary, went on to claim that India has ‘surrendered to Chinese economic might’, noting that India's trade deficit with Beijing had reached an all-time high of $99.2 billion in the previous fiscal year, driven by Indian imports of Chinese electronics, batteries and solar cells.

Referring also to the Pakistani air force's reported use of Chinese-made PL-15E beyond-visual range missiles and J-10C fighter aircraft during the four-day-long India-Pakistan military conflict last month, Ramesh claimed that Beijing's support “goes deeper than the supply” of the aforementioned weapon systems.

“It encompasses the domains of AI, multi-domain operations and stealth,” he said, adding to echo reports claiming that Islamabad is interested in buying China's J-35 fifth-generation fighter. “The challenge of a single front encompassing our northern and western borders appears to be a reality today,” wrote Ramesh.

“The Congress party has been calling for a detailed debate on China for the past five years. That has not happened. We hope that the prime minister will finally agree to such a discussion in the  forthcoming session of parliament” that is scheduled to begin next month, the MP continued.

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