Published 00:37 IST, July 4th 2020
British lawmaker Lord Rami Ranger writes to PM Modi, backs stand on China amid LAC Faceoff
Indian origin British Parliamentarian Lord Rami Ranger in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, July 3 urged him to "put right the past mistakes".
Indian origin British Parliamentarian Lord Rami Ranger in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, July 3 urged him to "put right the past mistakes" made by previous leaders with respect to India's relationship with China.
Calling India's friendship with communist China a "mismatch", Lord Rami said that India should have learned the lesson in 1950 when China annexed Tibet. He criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for projecting a false sense of friendship between the two countries with the phrase “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” (Indians and Chinese are brothers) during then Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai's visit to India in 1960, remembering that China attacked India in 1962.
Lord Rami Ranger, in his letter, detailed on the history of Chinese aggression along the LAC (1962, 1967, 2003) and said that Indian leaders time and again failed to realise that China "will never treat others better than it treats her own people", evoking horrifying images from Tiananmen Square and treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
In the light of Galwan clashes, Lord Rami Ranger mourned the martyrdom of brave Indian soldiers and condemned the Chinese army for their "barbaric" action.
'Indians lived without Chinese products for centuries'
Citing cases of international law and human rights violations by China, Lord Rami said the time has come to learn from history and not depend on trade links with China.
"By buying cheap Chinese made products, India exported jobs to China and also destroyed the incentive for Indians to manufacture the same in India. Indians had lived without Chinese products for centuries as nothing China exported was essential for the Indians," wrote Lord Rami Ranger.
He wrote that by buying cheap Chinese goods, India and the free world helped China to prosper, in turn letting the Chinese Communist Party to claim that their system was better. Lord Rami further mentioned that India’s security, integrity, and industry were under threat from Chinese products and emphasises that India "must change to change the results for itself".
Make in India a 'win win'
Lord Rami praise PM Modi for the 'Make in India' initiative and said India produces enough highly motivated IT experts, scientists and engineers to take the challenge. Calling it a "win-win situation", the British lawmaker urged PM Modi to offer them industrial units coupled with grants and soft loans to import machinery.
Expressing his belief in Indian manufacturing, Lord Rami said that the new digital and industrial revolution will create products for local and export markets which in turn will generate employment and tax revenues for India. Hailing PM Modi's positive step, Lord Rami said it is time for the Indian leader to motivate citizens to do more and to do better for the good of the country.
Updated 00:37 IST, July 4th 2020