New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar on Saturday took a dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and said that whenever there is a lack of understanding, he will approach the country’s military and intelligence but not the Chinese ambassador for the sake of news.
The minister also said that some people deliberately spread wrong news on the China issue knowing it is not true, just for politics. In a veiled jibe at Congress, he said that people talk about some land, which was taken by China in 1962, but give the impression that it happened recently, reported ANI.
Jaishankar made the remarks while interacting with the audience in a question-answer session during the launch of 'Bharat Marg', the Marathi translation of his book 'The India Way', in Pune.
When asked about some people or leaders from political parties lacking confidence in India while speaking about the military stand-off with China, he said that there are some people in the Opposition who believe so, which he finds difficult to understand.
The minister added that sometimes such people spread wrong information about China on purpose.
"If you want to ask why they have no confidence, why are they misleading people, why they spread the wrong khabar (news) about China. How can I answer these questions? Because I know they are also doing politics. Sometimes they deliberately spread such news that they know is not true," Jaishankar added.
"Sometimes, they talk about some land, which was taken by China in 1962. But they will not tell you the truth. They will give you the impression that this thing happened yesterday," he said without taking names.
Notably, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had last September said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given "100 square kilometres of Indian territory" to China "without a fight," and asked the government how it will be taken back.
Jaishankar further said that sometimes people say there is "soch me kami" (lack of understanding) in him but in that case, he will approach the military leadership, Army, or Intelligence.
"I will not call the Chinese ambassador and seek information," he said.
The remark was regarding Rahul Gandhi’s 2017 tweet when India and China were locked in a standoff on the border area along Bhutan. Then, Rahul Gandhi had said that he met the ambassadors of the two neighbouring countries.
"It is my job to be informed on critical issues. I met the Chinese Ambassador, Ex-NSA, Congress leaders from NE & the Bhutanese Ambassador," Gandhi had tweeted.
The EAM said China is India's only neighbour which is a global power and may become a superpower in the years to come.
Jaishankar On His Book
Talking about his book, according to PTI, the minister said, "There are eight chapters in total. I wanted people to be associated with the foreign policy of the country. I'd like to include people from other states, not just Delhi. This book was written in simple language and is simple to read."
"The first chapter is about two nawabs losing Awadh to the British East India Company while playing chess, the second about globalisation and the issues it brings, and the third about the "dogmas of Delhi that are historically defined and constrained," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
"The fourth relates to international policy. Some claim that we sit in ivory towers and analyse the world. We should not, in my opinion, delegate foreign policy to the mandarins. We must also listen to the people. When developing our foreign policy, we should keep people's feelings in mind," Jaishankar added.