‘Did India get justice for Galwan?’ asks Congress as PM Narendra Modi meets Xi Jinping in China

Source: Mint | Original Published At: 2025-09-01 01:04:58 UTC

Key Points

• Congress questions Modi's handling of India-China border tensions post-Galwan clash
• Modi-Xi meeting during SCO Summit marks first visit to China since 2020 standoff
• Diplomatic discussions focus on maintaining border peace and preventing disputes
• India implemented economic measures against China after 2020 Galwan Valley conflict

Congress party has raised questions on the Union government’s foreign policy while urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer whether Indian troops can freely patrol near the areas of the India-China border.

Party leader Pawan Khera sought to know about the Narendra Modi-led Union government’s handling of the June 2020 Chinese aggression in the Galwan Valley, particularly in light of Prime Minister Modi’s ongoing official visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.

“After ‘my dear friend Donald Trump’, it is ‘my dear friend Xi Jinping’. Tell me, did we get justice for Galwan? Is the status quo of April 2020 in place? Are our Forces able to patrol where they used to before April 2020? Will the PM get answers for these? Friends keep changing, hearts break, and then new friends are sought. You have seen the condition of the country, of the economy, of foreign policy,” Khera told news ANI.

Signs of détente PM Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the SCO Summit in Tianjin on Sunday.

As many as 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, northern India, in June 2020.

In the aftermath of the clashes, New Delhi heightened scrutiny of investments from China, banned popular Chinese mobile apps and severed direct passenger air routes.

Narendra Modi’s meeting with Xi Jinping in China assumed significance as it was the prime minister’s first trip to China since the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control(LAC).

Xi and Modi met last year at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which ended a four-year deadlock or freeze in bilateral ties over military tensions in Eastern Ladakh.

The two neighbouring nations show signs of détente at a time when India-US relations are souring over President Donald Trump’s decision to double tariffs on Indian goods.

What did Modi-Xi discuss? Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined the need for peace and tranquillity in border areas for continued and smooth development of ties. Both leaders also shared their perspectives on the longer-term growth and development of the two countries.

Misri said that Modi and Xi were of the view that differences between India and China should not be allowed to be turned into disputes. Misri said that the border issue figured in the discussions between the two leaders.

“Both leaders took note of the successful disengagement last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border regions since then. In voicing certain principles related to this issue, the Prime Minister underlined the need for peace and tranquillity in the border areas for the continued and smooth development of bilateral relations,” Misri said.