"China has continued aggressive moves along border...PM must end silence": Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi [India], June 19 : Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should end his "silence" on his "na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hei, na hi koi ghusa hua hai" remarks made in 2020 in the context of border standoff with China and alleged that Indian soldiers have been restricted from patrolling to some points they used to do earlier.
The Congress leader accused PM Modi of giving clean chit to China in the context of the standoff in eastern Ladakh.
"Today is the fourth anniversary of Prime Minister Modi's infamous public clean chit to China when he said 'Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hal, na hi koi ghusa hua hai'. This statement came only four days after June 15, 2020 clash in Galwan in which 20 of our brave soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. Not only was it a profound insult to our fallen soldiers, it also legitimised Chinese control over 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh," Ramesh alleged in a statement posted on X.
"Indian troops are unable to access these areas to this day. Chinese forces continue to block Indian access in the strategic Depsang Plains at five patrolling points. Three more patrolling points in Demchok remain out of bounds for Indian soldiers. In Pangong Tso, our troops are restricted to Finger 3 when earlier they could go as far as Finger 8," he said.
The Congress leader said that Indian graziers are "no longer able to access" Helmet Top, Mukpa Re, Rezang La, Rinchen La, Table Top and Gurung Hill in Chushul.
"In the Gogra-Hot Springs areas, they can no longer access Patrolling Points 15, 16 and 17. This represents a major loss of territory to our hostile, northern neighbour. To add insult to injury, India was compelled to dismantle a memorial to the war hero Major Shaitan Singh when it withdrew from Rezang La in 2022 and ceded the area as a "buffer zone". Rezang La is the site of a heroic battle on 18 November 1962 when Charlie Company of 13 Kumson fought off waves of attacks to inflict the biggest Chinese defeat of 1962...
"Major Shaitan Singh, who was posthumously awarded a Param Vir Chakra, and 113 brave soldiers gave their lives to defend eastern Ladakh, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers in the engagement. Yet India agreed to withdraw from the very spot where Major Shaitan Singh gave his life for his country," the Congress leader said.
Jairam Ramesh said China has continued its "aggressive moves" along the border, including in Bhutanese territory.
"Since the PM's clean chit, China has continued its aggressive moves along our border, including in Bhutanese territory. It has expanded its influence in our immediate neighbourhood resulting in the removal of our troops from the Maldives. All this while our imports from China hit record levels, causing our MSMEs to suffer," he said.
He said no proper debate has taken place "on the biggest setback" to Indian national security in sixty years.
"The non-biological PM must end his silence. Does he still believe that "Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai? Has he ceded control over thousands of square kilometres in Depsang and Demchok to China for the foreseeable future? And when will anyone be held accountable for India's biggest strategic and intelligence failure in many decades?" he asked.