Following Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s controversial remark referring to the 1962 India-China war as an “alleged invasion,” Jairam Ramesh clarified on Wednesday that Aiyar has apologized for his statement, and the party distances itself from his original phraseology.
Jairam Ramesh also criticized Prime Minister Modi for his handling of the 2020 India-China face-off in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, accusing him of giving a “clean chit” to the Chinese, which weakened India’s negotiation position.
In a post on X, Jairam stated, “Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar has subsequently apologized 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, during which 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, Aiyar stirred controversy after an interview clip of his went viral, wherein he referred to Pakistan as a “respected nation” that possesses an atom bomb, suggesting the need for dialogue with them. He also criticized India for not making efforts to reach out to Pakistan in the last ten years.
