NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday rejected the opposition’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handshake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit and said that PM Modi has been ‘very firm’ on China.
Speaking at the Times Now summit, Jaishankar said the prime minister should be judged by the strong deployment of our forces on the Sino-India border.
“I don’t think the prime minister has postured publicly on China. I think the prime minister has been very firm on China. The prime minister has been very clear and not just in his words, he has actually been very clear in his actions. Please understand the efforts that were made from 2020 onwards in maintaining such a large force on our borders. It is an enormous enterprise,” Jaishankar said.
“At the end of the day that is the answer. I would rather have a prime minister who does things than to have a prime minister who pontificates but does not actually do it out there. In the case of Prime Minister Modi, I think he should be judged by the fact that the Indian military today is deployed in strength on the borders with China to respond to the challenges of 2020,” he added.
PM Modi and Xi Jinping, while attending the G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, “exchanged courtesies”. Modi and Xi, both dressed casually, were photographed shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.
While India and China have not yet resumed normal bilateral exchanges, they have also not allowed differences over the border issue to come in the way of cooperation at multilateral forums, including SCO, Brics and G20.
This was only the second time they came face to face physically since the military standoff in eastern Ladakh started in May 2022.
Speaking at the Times Now summit, Jaishankar said the prime minister should be judged by the strong deployment of our forces on the Sino-India border.
“I don’t think the prime minister has postured publicly on China. I think the prime minister has been very firm on China. The prime minister has been very clear and not just in his words, he has actually been very clear in his actions. Please understand the efforts that were made from 2020 onwards in maintaining such a large force on our borders. It is an enormous enterprise,” Jaishankar said.
“At the end of the day that is the answer. I would rather have a prime minister who does things than to have a prime minister who pontificates but does not actually do it out there. In the case of Prime Minister Modi, I think he should be judged by the fact that the Indian military today is deployed in strength on the borders with China to respond to the challenges of 2020,” he added.
PM Modi and Xi Jinping, while attending the G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, “exchanged courtesies”. Modi and Xi, both dressed casually, were photographed shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.
While India and China have not yet resumed normal bilateral exchanges, they have also not allowed differences over the border issue to come in the way of cooperation at multilateral forums, including SCO, Brics and G20.
This was only the second time they came face to face physically since the military standoff in eastern Ladakh started in May 2022.
