S Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister, slammed Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks in Lok Sabha yesterday that the nation was at risk from both outside and inside.
Rahul Gandhi had said that the Centre has failed the people by bringing China and Pakistan closer. “The single biggest strategic goal of India’s foreign policy is to keep Pakistan and China separate and you brought them closer,” he had said in his speech.
In response to Gandhi, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter to offer the Congress leader some “lessons” in history. “Rahul Gandhi alleged in Lok Sabha that it is this government which brought Pakistan and China together. Perhaps, some history lessons are in order: In 1963, Pakistan illegally handed over the Shaksgam valley to China. China built the Karakoram highway through PoK in the 1970s.”
Jaishankar said, “From the 1970s, the two countries also had close nuclear collaboration: In 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor started. So, ask yourself: were China and Pakistan distant then?”.
Rahul Gandhi had also said that India could not get any foreign guests to attend this year’s Republic Day celebration. Replying to this, Jaishankar, said, “In Lok Sabha, @RahulGandhi said we could not get a foreign guest for Republic Day. Those who live in India know we were in the midst of a corona wave. The 5 Central Asian Presidents, who were to come, did hold a virtual summit on Jan 27. Did Rahul Gandhi miss that as well?”.