Congress MP gives suspension notice in RS to discuss China issue

NEW DELHI: Congress lawmakers Pramod Tiwari and Manish Tewari have sought discussions on the border row with China in parliament on Tuesday.

While Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari gave a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in the upper House, his party colleague in Lok Sabha, Manish Tewari, gave an Adjournment Motion notice in the lower House to discuss the border situation.

Pramod Tiwari attacked the government in his letter saying no concrete response has been provided by the Narendra Modi-led union government despite several incidents of transgression from the Chinese side on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Congress MP in Rajya Sabha highlighted the June 2020 Galwan attack in Ladakh which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

Pramod Tiwari said despite 16 rounds of talks between the army commanders no concrete headway was made as China just moved out of certain points in the Galwan valley, but Indian soldiers could not return to those points where they used to patrol before May 2020.

Raising the stalemate that continues to exist between the neighbors at Depsang plains and at Charding La nullah in Demchok, the Rajya Sabha lawmaker said while Chinese soldiers are entrenched firmly in the area, Indian soldiers cannot even advance into the same area where they earlier used to patrol.

The Congress leader also questioned any progress on the diplomatic front as he raised the issue of the December 9 Tawang scuffle in Arunachal Pradesh, in which he alleged that several Indian soldiers were left injured even after two entire years of disengagement exercises.

Pramod Tiwari accused the government of allowing increased imports from China even as exports from India to the Asian nation have continued to dwindle.

The clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive Tawang sector took place amid the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.

Although in his statements in both Houses of Parliament, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh assured that "our forces are committed to protecting our territorial integrity and will continue to thwart any attempt made on it", the Congress MP said that the government has not discussed the recent clash.

The winter session of parliament began on December 7 and will have 17 sittings.