'Diffidence, opacity': Manish Tewari slams Centre for not discussing China border standoff in Parliament

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari has slammed the Modi government for its alleged "diffidence and opacity" in not deliberating in Parliament the border standoff with China and stressed the need to have a larger discussion on India's overall relationship with Beijing.

Tewari also alleged that ministries such as defence and external affairs, which are critical to the functioning of the Indian state, are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Ruing that critical issues of national importance are not discussed in Parliament, Tewari cited the instance of Parliament holding a discussion on India-China border war of 1962 while the conflict was on and also in 1971, then prime minister Indira Gandhi fully briefing Parliament to the extent that she could.

"This approach of opacity, of trying to pretend that everything is alright ...I don't think it helps the country," said Tewari, who has been demanding a full-fledged discussion on China in Parliament across several sessions.

Amid calls for India to play a greater role in ending the Ukraine-Russia conflict and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposing India among a handful of Global South countries for hosting the second Ukraine peace summit, the Congress leader also said he doesn't think much is going to really come out of any individual initiative howsoever well-intentioned any country might take.

The fact is the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine question is going to be a part of the overall settlement about the future security architecture of Europe, the former Union minister told PTI.

Talking about his repeated demand in Parliament of discussing the China issue, Tewari said don't understand this "diffidence" of not discussing the standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control.

"It is extremely sad and unfortunate that critical issues of national importance are not discussed in Parliament. I don't recall the last time Parliament had a discussion on the demands for grants of either the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of External Affairs or the Ministry of Home Affairs...there may have been an odd instance here or there but ministries which are critical to the functioning of the Indian state are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny," the Lok Sabha MP from Chandigarh said.

"I don't understand this diffidence of not discussing the standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control which has now been running for the last 50 months altogether because Indian Parliament had a convention that even when we were fighting a border war with China in 1962, concurrently, for almost a week, from November 7, 1962 till November 15-16, 1962, both Houses of Parliament extensively discussed the situation on the border," Tewari said.

Even during the 1971 war, the winter session of Parliament was on and then PM Indira Gandhi kept Parliament fully briefed, he added.

Talking about the current border issue, Tewari said, "You have 50,000-60,000 troops who are eyeball to eye ball and on the other hand you have a trade relationship with China which seems to be booming much to India's disadvantage with the trade deficit actually growing adverse day by day." The Congress leader argued that there is a need to have a larger discussion on India's overall relationship with China and as a subset of that a discussion on what has been going on on the Line of Actual Control, as well as a discussion on what has been happening in India's neighbourhood.

India's immediate neighbourhood and the larger play where India sees in the world today are issues which Parliament needs to discuss, he stressed.

"Parliament does not only need to discuss as to which road is being built in a particular constituency or which well is being dug or not being dug whether a local or municipal issue has been addressed. There was a specific role that has been given to Parliament...to hold the government to account on larger issues which have a bearing on the future and trajectory of this nation," Tewari said.

The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

The ties between the two countries nose-dived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Asked about change in India's stature in the global world order and calls for India to play a greater roll in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Congress leader said the PM's choice of destinations has been rather interesting.

"He went to Russia as the first destination of his third term as PM and then he has gone to Poland and Ukraine where he had...a rather difficult and an emotional meeting with President Zelenskyy but the fact is that the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine question or the Russia's aggression on Ukraine's territorial sovereignty is going to be a part of an overall settlement about the future security architecture of Europe," he said and cited the example of the conflict in Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"The classical example is the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. Whenever the Palestinian question gets resolved, it is going to as a part of the overall framework of the middle eastern security architecture, something which has not happened since 1948," he said.