Calibrated capitulation: Congress slams PM Modi after his meeting with Xi

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Mr. Ramesh further asked why has the PM “allowed China’s territorial advances in Ladakh and now Arunachal Pradesh”. File | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Congress on Sunday (September 13, 2026) posed four questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his approach to India-China relations, and accused him of "calibrated capitulation" to that country.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh asked whether the PM's "infamous clean chit" to China on June 19, 2020, weaken India and why has he "allowed China's territorial advances in Ladakh and now Arunachal Pradesh".

There was no immediate response from the government or the BJP over the Congress' claims.

Mr. Ramesh's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping that peace and tranquillity along the frontier remains an "essential" basis for development of India-China relations, even as the two leaders welcomed "steady progress" in the bilateral ties.

In their talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit , the two leaders reaffirmed that both the countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective of their ties and differences should not become disputes, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

In a statement posted on X , Mr. Ramesh said, "Now that his bilateral summit with President Xi Jinping is over, here are four questions for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to which the nation continues to seek answers. Did not your infamous clean chit to China on June 19, 2020 weaken India?" On the night of June 15-16, 2020, twenty of our soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley, the first such loss of life on the border in 45 years, the Congress leader recalled.

"Just four days later, on June 19, 2020, you inexplicably told an all-party meeting 'Na koi humari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai.' That statement has never been retracted. Has this not greatly weakened our subsequent negotiating position?" Mr. Ramesh said.

He further asked why has the PM "allowed China's territorial advances in Ladakh and now Arunachal Pradesh".

Our traditional patrolling and grazing rights across large stretches of Eastern Ladakh have been quietly but definitely "surrendered", he alleged.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of Chinese encroachment in Arunachal Pradesh, including loss of India's access to patrolling points and fresh standoffs, Mr. Ramesh claimed.

"China's posture on Arunachal Pradesh has only hardened: renaming towns, reasserting claims to what it calls 'South Tibet', and pushing ahead with its 60,000-MW Medog mega-dam on the Brahmaputra's Great Bend, a project that gives it a stranglehold over the water security of our entire northeast," the Congress leader said in his statement.

Why has the PM allowed softening of India's position on China's role in support of Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Mr. Ramesh asked.