The Congress on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “ineffective and feeble” response over the issue of China will only encourage the neighbouring country to assert claim on Indian territory.

Reacting to Prime Minister’s interview to Newsweek, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh said, “In his interview to Newsweek, a US magazine, the Prime Minister was at his cowardly worst. His only comment on China’s repeated infringements on Indian sovereignty was that the India-China border situation needs to be addressed urgently to resolve the ‘abnormality’ in the bilateral interactions.”

Stating that the Prime Minister had a chance to send a powerful message to China, Ramesh said, “However, his ineffective and feeble response is likely to only encourage China further in asserting its claim on Indian territory.”

Attacking Modi, he further said, “The Prime Minister’s reaction to the China issue is not only disgraceful but also disrespectful to our martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice in defending our borders.”

Ramesh, who is also the Congress MP in Rajya Sabha said, “The Prime Minister should apologise to the 140 crore Indians for deceiving them on national television on June 19th, 2020, with his statement ‘na koi ghusa hai, na hi koi ghus aya hai’ and keeping the nation in dark about his failures in protecting the borders with China.”

On the India-China border issue, Newsweek quoted the Prime Minister as saying, “For India, the relationship with China is important and significant. It is my belief that we need to urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us.”

“Stable and peaceful relations between India and China are important for not just our two countries but the entire region and world. I hope and believe that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, we will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquility in our borders,” the US-based magazine quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

It may be mentioned that last month, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said the BJP-led government should come out with the strongest rebuttal to the Chinese on their “pathetic” claims on Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080 km border with China.