After Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar triggered controversy over his “alleged invasion” remark on the 1962 India-China war, Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that the latter has apologized and the party distances itself from his original phraseology.
Jairam also attacked PM Modi over his statement on the 2020 India-China face-off in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley saying that the Prime Minister gave a clean chit to the Chinese weakening the negotiation position of India.
In a post on X, Jairam said, “Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar has subsequently apologised unreservedly for using the term “alleged invasion” mistakenly. Allowances must be made for his age. The INC distances itself from his original phraseology. The Chinese invasion of India that began on October 20, 1962, was for REAL. So too were the Chinese incursions in Ladakh in early May 2020 in which 20 of our soldiers were martyred and the status quo disturbed.”
“The outgoing PM, however, gave a clean chit publicly to the Chinese on June 19th, 2020, seriously weakening our negotiating position. 2000 sq km of territory including Depsang and Demchok remain out of bounds for Indian troops,” Jairam Ramesh added.
The 1962 Indo-China War took place between October and November of 1962. The Chinese troops attacked across the ‘MacMohan line’ and captured the Aksai Chin region which belongs to India.
Addressing the press conference on Tuesday, Mani Shankar Aiyar said, “In October 1962, the Chinese allegedly invaded India.”
Earlier this month, the Congress leader courted controversy after an interview clip of his went viral, wherein he could be heard saying that Pakistan is a “respected nation” that also possesses an atom bomb so India must enter into a dialogue with them.
He further said there have been “no efforts” from India to “reach out” to Pakistan in the last ten years.