Jaishankar ‘Willing to Listen’ to Rahul Gandhi ‘If He Has Superior Knowledge, Wisdom’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said he is “willing to listen” to Rahul Gandhi if the Congress leader has “superior knowledge and wisdom”. He launched a scathing attack on the grand old party leader over the China issue and said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sent the Indian Army to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not the Wayanad MP.

In an interview with the news agency ANI, Jaishankar responded to the Opposition’s claims that the Centre is avoiding a discussion on the Tawang clash.

When asked about Gandhi’s statement that the external affairs minister “doesn’t know much about foreign policy matters and needs to learn more”, Jaishankar, “If he has superior knowledge, wisdom, I am always willing to listen.”

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He added, “The narrative that the Indian government is on the defensive, being accommodative…Who sent Indian Army to LAC? Rahul Gandhi didn’t send them. Narendra Modi sent them.”

The EAM asserted that the Modi government is “serious about border infrastructure”.

On being asked about the Congress’s accusations that neither PM Modi nor EAM Jaishankar mention the word China, he said, “They must have some problem understanding words beginning with ‘C’. It’s not true. I think they are deliberately misrepresenting the situation. This government is serious about border infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, Jaishankar was also asked about some Western media’s narratives against India. To this, he said, “Do you think timing is accidental? Don’t know if election season has started in India, but for sure it has started in London and New York. This is politics at play by those who don’t have courage to come into political field.”

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Last year in December, Jaishankar had strongly objected to the use of the term “pitai” (beating) by Gandhi while referring to the India-China clash in Tawang, and asserted that our soldiers have stood their ground in Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh and should be “appreciated and honoured”.

“There is no problem with political criticism of the government’s actions”, Jaishankar had said, but objected to “direct or indirect” criticism of the soldiers guarding the country’s frontiers. His remarks during the debate on the Anti Maritime Piracy Bill in the Lok Sabha were in response to Gandhi’s allegations in Jaipur that China had taken away 2,000 square kms of Indian territory, killed 20 Indian soldiers, and was “beating our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh”.

In December, Gandhi had also alleged that China and Pakistan have come together and said this is a very dangerous thing that has happened because the government “mishandled” foreign policy. The government should admit its mistakes and take corrective measures, he had told a press conference.

“It should tell the country as to what has happened at the border with China and only then can the opposition support and help the government,” Gandhi had said while responding to a question on the government not allowing a discussion in Parliament on the border dispute with China.

(with inputs from PTI)

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