'Modi Govt To Lift 5-Yr-Old Curbs On Chinese Firms Bidding Indian Contracts': Congress Cites Report

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday slammed the Narendra Modi government over a media report claiming that India's finance ministry plans to scrap five-year-old restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts.

The opposition party claimed that this is "nothing short of a calibrated capitulation" to Chinese aggression and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his government's sudden "U-turns" on China policy.

In a social media post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Eight months after China's full military support to Pakistan (and openly taking on the front) during Operation Sindoor — and when the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Rahul R. Singh, has already named China as one of India's 'enemies' — the Modi government is now proposing to lift the five-year-old bans on Chinese companies, so that they can bid for Indian government contracts."

The Congress leader claimed that it is part of a broader set of recommendations from NITI Aayog aimed at removing restrictions on Chinese trade and investment in India entirely.

"This move comes in the wake of earlier decisions that included allowing Chinese companies to invest in India's electronics sector and liberally granting visas to Chinese workers, and all these steps are being taken at a time when India's record trade deficit with China continues to widen. These decisions are part of the broader recommendations of NITI Aayog, whose aim is to completely remove all restrictions on Chinese trade and investment in India," he said.

Ramesh said, "This step is nothing short of a deliberate policy of surrender in the face of Chinese aggression, arising from the Prime Minister's own weakness — the most shameful example of which is the public 'clean chit' he gave to China on June 19, 2020."

"This humiliating capitulation is happening at a time when Indian troops are being prevented from accessing traditional patrolling areas, China is maintaining a heavy military presence in eastern Ladakh, continuously provoking on the Arunachal Pradesh issue, and constructing the Medog Dam on the Brahmaputra — all this less than a year after providing hyperactive support to Pakistan's attacks on India," Congress leader said.

"The Prime Minister's evasive responses have been going on for far too long. Now, he will have to explain to Parliament in the upcoming budget session about his government's sudden U-turns on China policy — on which there has been no opportunity for discussion and debate on the challenges and threats related to China for a very long time," he added.

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