'Were you sleeping in history class?' Jaishankar's 'China guru' dig at Rahul; slams Gandhi family

Time of India

21 hours ago

S Jaishankar and Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI: In a fiery address in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, external affairs minister
S Jaishankar
launched a stinging, thinly veiled attack on Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi
. Jaishankar branded him a "China-guru" and accused him of acquiring his knowledge of Beijing through "Olympic invites and private tuitions from Chinese diplomats."
The foreign minister, defending his recent visit to China, hit back at allegations that he hasn't done enough on the China front, saying he held no "secret meetings or deals", unlike those who "took China tuitions" during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"Some people got their China knowledge by going to the Olympics there. But, whom did they meet there? They did not just meet the Chinese, but also others," he said, in an apparent jibe at Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, who had attended the event as special invitees.
"But there are 'China-gurus' now and one sir is sitting across from me, whose affection for China is so great that he made a deal between India and China – 'Chindia'," Jaishankar said, referring to a term coined by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
The minister said he had spent 41 years in foreign service and served as India's longest-serving ambassador to China, but still faced accusations from the opposition of being soft on Beijing.
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"There may have been some shortcomings on my part on China, as I did not get China teaching by going to the China Olympics, as I was not invited and was not a special person,' he remarked sharply.
Jaishankar flays Rahul on China-Pak nexus
He alleged that cooperation between Pakistan and China had begun in the 1960s, but previous Indian governments failed to act decisively. 'This 'China guru' says that China and Pakistan have come very close, which is the reality.
They came together as we left PoK,' he added.
Jaishankar dismissed the opposition's concerns on national security and reminded the House of China's control of Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port, a strategic loss, he said, which occurred during the UPA government's tenure.
"The China-guru gives us lectures on China, they should understand that this happened during their era," he asserted.
On his recent China visit, Jaishankar maintained, "Whatever I did and discussed was publicly open. I discussed terrorism, I discussed de-escalation and I discussed restrictions on trade which China has put. I made it clear that relations with China will develop only on three mutuals — mutual interest, mutual sensitivity, mutual respect."
"Unlike some other people, I made no secret meetings, I did no secret deals. That only Olympic people did, only China-gurus do such things and not normal people," the minister said according to news agency PTI.