EAM Jaishankar mocks Rahul's secret meets with Chinese envoys

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his meetings with Chinese envoys and said the Congress functionary must be having "extra understanding" about the neighbouring country as he had secret meetings with them.
In an interview with Times Now, the minister said, "Rahul understands China so much that he holds secret meetings with the Chinese envoy.He must have some extra understanding in these meetings." He was responding to Rahul's remark that Jaishankar had no understanding of bilateral issues with China.
While initially Congress didn't confirm the meeting, the Chinese embassy had released a photo of Rahul with their envoy.
In the interview, the minister confirmed the buzz that PM Narendra Modi had indeed got Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the Russian army to stop shelling in order to facilitate the evacuation of Indian students.
"Firstly, it was done on March 5 in Kharkiv. Our students were on their way to the nearest safe zone. Heavy shelling was taking place. Our prime minister called President Putin and asked him to stop the shelling to make way for our students. Upon the PM's request, the Russian army stopped the shelling and our students could reach the safe zone. Another crucial incident took place on March 8," he said.
Jaishankar said in the last 10 years, as far as India's image and standing in the world was concerned, the country has touched new heights. "There are many reasons, not just one. One reason is that every nation is known by the image of its leader. We are lucky that Modi has been very active in speaking about the India story across the world, and that has benefited us a lot," he said.
He said since the formation of the Modi govt, the western media had been very critical of it. "They questioned our Covid handling, economic handling and pharmaceutical industry. I am not saying we are always right, but the western media has always tried to set a narrative and give an opposing viewpoint. They questioned our methods, our election process and the weather during elections. The west has this old habit of commenting on growing countries. Why do they have such habits? These countries used to dominate the global political fray. Times have changed, but they have not," the minister said.
Jaishankar said the Congress govt's mistakes in dealing with Beijing had resulted in China attacking and occupying Indian territory in 1962. "When Nehru was making his China policy, he was opposed by Sardar Patel. Many ministers in the Nehru cabinet opposed him. Later, when Aksai Chin road was made, there were fiery discussions in Parliament. Several discussions took place on Nehru's foreign policy," the minister said, dismissing the suggestion that the 1962 attack could not have been anticipated.