Modi govt responsible for biggest territorial setback India faced since 1962: Congress

The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pursuing "normalisation" with China, which it said played a crucial role in Pakistan’s military operations during ‘Operation Sindoor’, while highlighting that India had lost access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points in eastern Ladakh.

The party made accusations while substantiating them with official statements and statistics.

“Are Indian patrols now required to take Chinese concurrence to access patrolling points in Depsang, Demchok, and Chumar, where earlier they exercised India’s territorial rights freely? Are Indian patrols not prevented from accessing their patrolling points in Galwan, Hot Spring and Pangong Tso by ‘buffer zones’ lying predominantly within India’s claim line?” Congress MP and general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh asked.

He also questioned, “Was it not widely reported in 2020 that 1,000 sq km of eastern Ladakh, including 900 sq km in Depsang, had come under Chinese control? Did the SP of Leh not submit a paper at the annual Director General of Police Conference, in which he stated that India had lost access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points in eastern Ladakh?”

The Congress’ criticism comes at a time when the Supreme Court slammed Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for allegedly making defamatory statements against the Indian Army. The court said that a “true Indian won’t make such statements,” and questioned Gandhi’s claim of 2,000 sq km of land being occupied by China.

However, the senior Congress leader Ramesh accused the Modi government of being responsible for the biggest territorial setback India has faced since 1962. “...it is pursuing normalisation with a hostile China because of its cowardice and misplaced economic priorities,” he said.

Referring to the Galwan incident on June 15, 2020, Jairam said since 20 brave soldiers were martyred, “every patriotic Indian has sought answers, but instead of providing answers, the Modi government for the past five years has chosen to obfuscate and hide the truth with its policy of DDLJ - Deny, Distract, Lie, and Justify.”

“Why did the Prime Minister give a clean-chit to China, saying ‘Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai’ on 19 June 2020, only four days after the Galwan incident?” Ramesh questioned.

Referring to Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi’s statement, Ramesh said, “⁠We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020”.

“Does the withdrawal agreement of October 21, 2024, take India back to the status quo,” the Congress leader asked.

Ramesh also referred to the trade deficit with China, saying is it not true that the trade deficit with China reached a record $99.2 billion in 2024-25.