"What have we achieved out of this surrender?": Congress' Pawan Khera targets Centre over China policy

Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in the national capital, Khera questioned the Centre over border tensions, trade relations, visa restrictions and the entry of Chinese workers into India.

"What did we get? What status did we get from anti? Can we patrol the points today where we used to patrol before April 2020, or not? In exchange for all this, shouldn't you have taken something? Or did you just accept that little thing of theirsthat, sir, they will keep your secrets hidden, you will keep on crumbling, you will ruin the MSME of your country...you will do whatever China wants, because you are afraid of China. Just because you are afraid of China, you will keep surrendering India's interests to China. Whether it is Press Note 3, whether it is travel restrictions that you have removed...whether it is the trade deficit which has increased from 99 billion dollars to 112 billion dollars, whether it is the visas that were restricted and you've suddenly again increased visas for Chinese workers to come here, Chinese officers to come here. What does this do to India? What have we achieved out of this surrender?" he said.

Raising concerns over reports of Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh, Khera questioned the Centre's claims that the situation was normal and referred to appeals made by residents on social media.

The Congress leader further alleged that India was facing pressure from China and the United States, claiming that the Centre was not adequately protecting the country's interests.

Every day you hear that China has entered Arunachal, people there are taking the help of social media, making emotional appeals there, local rural people... then our minister says, sir, I am swimming by jumping into the river, everything is normal here. What is this normal? This is not normal at all! he said.

Tell the DG of ITBP that everything is normalTell those 20 families that everything is normal, whose people were martyred. What is the condition of those families? Does anyone have any news? Has anyone inquired about those families? Khera asked.

Khera also raised the issue of tunnel boring machines, alleging that China had stopped a German company from sending such machines to India, causing losses to the country.

"The strong country, the people of the country were with youI was, I am deliberately saying, now I am not. The country's soldier is brave, does not fear martyrdom; then why are you scared? That is why we say this secret won't remain a secret for long. On the other hand, Epstein blackmailsgets blackmailed from Epstein's files, so surrenders in front of America. Everywhere you are seen getting blackmailed. We kept whatever conditions they had; I put those terms in front of you. There is a tunnel boring machine, TBM. 70% of tunnel boring machines are made in China across the entire world. A German company was making tunnel boring machines; India had to buy them. China stopped its factory from sending them to India... unofficially, first of all, that, we won't let tunnel boring machines go, stopped it, causing loss to India," he said.

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh had also accused the Centre of making concessions to China and remaining silent on border tensions, alleging that India had lost patrolling points in Arunachal Pradesh.

Ramesh said the Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had praised the force's performance during recent face-offs with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Arunachal Pradesh, while alleging that the Prime Minister and his establishment had remained silent on the issue.

In a post on X, Ramesh wrote, While the self-styled Vishwagurus calibrated concessions to China continue, the DG, ITBP, has laudedand rightly soits performance in recent face-offs with the PLA in Arunachal Pradesh, on which there has been a deafening silence from the PM and his establishment." (ANI)