The Grand Illusion: Congress MP Slams PM Modi's 'Event Management' Diplomacy with China

A political storm is brewing over India's past diplomatic overtures to China, with Congress MP Manickam Tagore launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pre-2019 visits. In a sharp denunciation, Tagore dismissed these high-profile engagements as nothing more than "event management" and a hollow display of "56-inch diplomacy," arguing they utterly failed to safeguard India's strategic interests against an increasingly assertive Beijing.

Tagore's scathing remarks, delivered amidst ongoing parliamentary debates, cast a long shadow over the much-touted informal summits and bilateral meetings that characterized the Modi government's initial approach to China.

He specifically pointed to the highly publicized 2018 Wuhan informal summit between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, suggesting its grandeur was merely cosmetic, offering little in terms of substantive conflict resolution or long-term strategic advantage for India.

The Congress leader didn't mince words, contending that the "event management" facade created a misleading impression of camaraderie, distracting from the simmering tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

According to Tagore, this superficial diplomacy left India vulnerable, failing to anticipate or mitigate the subsequent aggressive actions by China that have led to the current protracted military standoff in eastern Ladakh. His critique implies a significant disconnect between the aspirational rhetoric of "neighbourhood first" and the grim realities on the ground.

Tagore's "56-inch diplomacy" jibe, a direct challenge to PM Modi's strongman image, underscored his argument that mere optics and grand gestures are insufficient when dealing with complex geopolitical adversaries.

He emphasized that genuine diplomacy demands a robust, consistent, and proactive strategy, one that prioritizes national sovereignty and territorial integrity over photo opportunities and elaborate ceremonies. The opposition's narrative suggests that the government's early China policy was either naive or strategically flawed, leading to current predicaments.

This forceful condemnation by Manickam Tagore reverberates against the backdrop of strained India-China relations.

As both nations continue to navigate intricate border disputes and broader geopolitical competition, the Congress MP's assertions ignite crucial questions about the efficacy of past diplomatic strategies and the path forward. His words serve as a potent reminder that the opposition remains vigilant, critically scrutinizing every aspect of the government's foreign policy, especially concerning India's most challenging neighbors.