‘PM Of 140 Cr People Standing Hands Tied Before Xi At BRICS’: Congress Slams Modi After China Releases Map

China officially released a "standard map" which included Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan, and disputed South China Sea.

The Congress on Tuesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over China’s 2023 edition of “standard map” which included Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan, and the disputed South China Sea as a part of its territory. The development comes close on the heels of PM Modi’s bilateral talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa where the two leaders discussed the situation along the Line of Actual Control. As the new map was released, Congress targeted PM Modi over his meeting with Xi. 

Party leader Pawan Khera said that PM Modi has given a clean chit to China and his body language in front of Xi at the BRICS summit did not give a good message to the world. 

“A Prime Minister of 140 crore people standing in front of them with tied hands does not give a good message to the world... As soon as the BRICS Summit was over, China released a map showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as a part of China,” he said while speaking to news agency ANI. 

“If Nehru had accepted the Chinese claim line, the war of 1962 would not have occurred. We did not accept it...Thus, war took place, and even though we lost the war, we did not accept the Chinese claim line...Today we are accepting the Chinese claim line without fighting a war,” he added. 

He also hit out at External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying, “We cannot expect anything from a government in which Minister Jaishankar said in a podcast interview that how can we fight with China which is a huge economy, while India is a small economy..."

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also trained guns on PM Modi saying, “PM Modi and the President of China met a few days ago and it was told that PM Modi spoke sternly about LAC and infiltration. But only after four days of the meeting, China issued a map claiming control over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.” 

Reacting to a post by a journalist on X asking whether PM Modi directed Jaishankar to summon Chinese Ambassador to India over the issue, Shrinate said, “You expect @DrSJaishankar to do anything substantial - the man who said we are a small economy who can’t fight a big economy like China?!?!”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also expressed his displeasure and hoped that the upcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi “ will be another opportunity for us to expose the issue of China’s transgressions into Indian territory at the global stage.”

“Modi Govt must ensure that the illegal Chinese occupation of 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory along the LAC must end,” Kharge said in a post on X. 

China’s New ‘Standard Map’ 

In a post on X, China’s state-run Global Times said, “The 2023 edition of China's standard map was officially released on Monday and launched on the website of the standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources.”

The map incorporated disputed areas including Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan, and the disputed South China Sea. 

India has repeatedly asserted that "Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India." 

China claims Taiwan as a part of its mainland and has vowed its integration, and as a result has included it in its this year’s edition of the “standard map”.  Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims over the South China Sea areas.