A day after the MEA said that more than "mere pleasantries" were exchanged between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Bali G20 meet, Congress asked the Centre whether an agreement between India and China on the border dispute was reached.
In a post on Twitter, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked whether China would withdraw its troops from Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh.
Ramesh's remark comes a day after the MEA said PM Modi and Xi Jinping discussed the need to "stabilise" bilateral ties between India and China when they met face-to-face in Bali in November 2022. The MEA responded two days after China issued a statement, saying both leaders had "reached an important consensus" on the issue.
"Ever since Prime Minister's public clean chit to China on June 19th, 2020, the Modi government has been acting as if it is being tough on China, and that there have been no compromises or meaningful conversations between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping while Chinese troops remain in violation of previous LAC agreements," Ramesh said on Twitter.
On November 16, 2022, Ramesh said, the Modi government characterised a dinner conversation between the two leaders at Bali as just an "exchange of courtesies." On July 25, 2023, he claimed that a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement mentioned an "important consensus" reached by PM Modi and President Xi in Bali.
"On July 27, our Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that more than mere courtesies were exchanged at Bali. Is this a consensus or a concession by PM Modi? Will Chinese troops finally withdraw from Depsang and Demchok where they have blocked Indian patrols for more than three years," Ramesh asked.
Meanwhile, he claimed that economic relations between the two countries are proceeding "as if the Chinese incursions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh never even happened". "So much for 'lal aankh'!" the Congress leader said.
The Congress has been critical of the government's handling of the border dispute with China.