'Deafening silence from PM': Congress targets Centre over reported 'face-offs' along Arunachal border

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of remaining silent on reported face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh. The party also alleged that the government had made ‘concessions’ to Beijing and failed to adequately address concerns over border security.In a post on X, the opposition party criticised PM over his interactions with Chinese president Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit, saying the prime minister was seen joking with Xi even as Indian troops reportedly faced tensions along the border.“Instead of showing China the “red eye,” Narendra Modi was seen joking around with Chinese President Xi Jinping—at the BRICS summit”, it wrote.The Congress also alleged that reports of clashes with Chinese soldiers had been suppressed since July.The party’s handle shared the video of the ITBP chief and wrote, “Modi has abandoned our soldiers every time, betrayed the country, and washed his hands of responsibility. Sometimes giving China a clean chit, sometimes abandoning control of patrolling points and the country’s land. He called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “weak prime minister” and accused him of causing immense damage to the country.The criticism follows remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor, who said on Thursday that the force’s newly raised Shaurya commando unit had demonstrated its capabilities during ongoing face-offs with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at multiple locations in Arunachal Pradesh.Kapoor said the specialised commandos would be deployed across every border battalion as the ITBP strengthens its combat readiness along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC). The force is also expanding its modernisation drive, with greater emphasis on specialised training and emerging warfare technologies.Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh separately cited media reports about the recent face-offs, questioning the Centre’s silence on the developments. He alleged that India had made concessions to China and raised concerns over reports of lost patrolling points in Arunachal Pradesh.“While the self-styled Vishwaguru’s calibrated concessions to China continue, the DG, ITBP, has lauded—and rightly so—its performance in recent face-offs with the PLA in Arunachal Pradesh, on which there has been a deafening silence from the PM and his establishment,” Ramesh wrote .He added that local residents had reported the loss of patrolling points, drawing a parallel with developments in Ladakh.

Ramesh also flagged China’s renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh and the construction of a reported 60,000-MW dam, arguing that these developments posed risks to India’s ecological and water security.On the economic front, the Congress leader claimed that India’s trade deficit with China had reached a record $112 billion in 2025-26, compared with $99 billion in the previous financial year. He criticised the government’s Make in India initiative, writing that it had effectively become “Import from China”, and described the widening trade gap as a threat to economic security.The Congress also invoked Modi’s June 19, 2020, remarks following the Galwan Valley clash, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. Ramesh quoted the prime minister as saying that no one had entered Indian territory and that no Indian post was under another country’s control.