Congress leader Manish Tiwari
Congress leader Manish Tiwari reacted to the agreement between India and China on patrolling the Line of Actual Control. He called it a satisfactory and even progressive agreement with China, but it also raised serious questions. He said the government had never discussed the situation before 2020 and China’s intrusion into parliament. Tiwari accused the government of saying that there is no answer yet as to what areas China violated in April and May 2020 and to what extent. He asked whether China had withdrawn from all the areas it had invaded, or were old disputes like Demchok and Depsang still there?
He referred to a paper written by an army officer in January 2023, which stated that India had lost the right of way at 26 of the 65 patrol points from the Karakoram Pass to Chumar. The question raised by Tiwari is, after the signing of the agreement, has India regained access to these patrol points? He said the information provided by the foreign minister and foreign secretary did not fully clarify the situation.
Solution ambiguity
Tiwari also asked the government, what is the “resolution” process that China refers to? Are these solutions written, spoken, or resolutions of conflicts and disagreements? He said there is still a lot of ambiguity in this area and the government should answer it. Tiwari asked the government to provide detailed information to Parliament on what was the actual situation before 2020, which areas had Chinese encroachments occurred and whether China had withdrawn from all these areas? He also asked whether the 26 patrol points that lost their right of way had been restored.
“We have reached an agreement on relevant matters”
Let me tell you that on October 21, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had reached an agreement on patrol arrangements for the Line of Actual Control on the India-China border. The announcement was made ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kazan, Russia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press conference that we have reached an agreement on relevant issues and will work with India to implement solutions. He said that we maintain close contact through diplomatic and military channels.
