Jairam Ramesh and Narendra Modi (Agencies)

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of adopting “double standards” on terrorism after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.In a sharp attack, Jairam said that India has long criticised China for “double speak” on the issue of terrorism, Modi himself told Xi that both India and China are victims of it. He called this stance “cowardly kowtowing” to the so-called dragon.

In a post on X, he said: “For a long time, India has been accusing China of adopting “double standards” and “double speak” on the issue of terrorism. Now Prime Minister Modi has told President Xi Jinping that both India and China are victims of terrorism. If this is not the so-called elephant bowing before the so-called dragon, then what is it?”The Congress leader also called out PM Modi for remaining completely silent in his conversation with President Xi about China’s jugalbandi with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, despite the issue being flagged by top Indian Army officials.“The self-proclaimed 56-inch chested leader now stands thoroughly exposed. He betrayed the national interest with his clean chit to China on June 19, 2020. Now, August 31, 2025, will also go down as a day of infamy for his cowardly kowtowing in Tianjin,” he said.The attack came a day after PM Modi and Xi agreed to expand trade and investment ties, reduce India’s trade deficit and work towards a “fair” settlement of the border issue.

PM Modi’s stance on terrorism:

During his address at the plenary session in China, PM Modi underscored that no double standards are acceptable when it comes to addressing terrorism. He described attacks on civilians as a direct challenge to every country and person who believes in humanity and called for a unanimous opposition to terrorism in all its forms, insisting that this is a shared duty towards humanity.He said: “India has been bearing the brunt of the terrorism for the last four decades. Recently, we saw the worst side of terrorism in Pahalgam. I express my gratitude to the friendly country that stood with us in this hour of grief.”The prime minister emphasized that security, peace and stability form the basis for any country’s development. He noted that terrorism, separatism, and extremism remain major challenges and stressed that terrorism is not just a threat to a single nation, but a common challenge for all of humanity.Ministry of external affairs said the two leaders reaffirmed that India and China are “partners, not rivals,” and stressed that differences should not be allowed to turn into disputes.Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that PM Modi also raised the issue of cross-border terrorism, saying both countries had suffered from it and must support each other to tackle the challenge.