On January 24, Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani asked Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to come clean on his links to the Chinese company Huawei. Notably, Huawei has been banned by several countries, including the United States, for security reasons.
In a tweet, Jethmalani said, “Since 2005, Jairam Ramesh has been lobbying for Chinese telecom co Huawei’s activities in India (see below excerpts from his book). Huawei has been banned in several countries as a security threat. Jairam now questions GOIs China stand. It behoves him to disclose his Huawei links.”
Since 2005 #JairamRamesh has been lobbying for Chinese telecom co Huawei’s activities in India (see below excerpts from his book) Huawei has been banned in several countries as a security threat. Jairam now questions GOIs China stand. It behoves him to disclose his Huawei links. pic.twitter.com/H72w0UQRAB
— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) January 24, 2023
Earlier, Jethmalani had called Ramesh a “mouthpiece of Chinese disinformation” in a tweet. On December 30, he wrote, “Jairam Ramesh’s denigration of India’s pharma industry is natural. An ardent Sinophile, he is a mouthpiece of Chinese disinformation. His rant comes against the backdrop of China’s present grim crisis & India’s success. His lies stand exposed by the Gambian& Uzbekistan govts.”
Jairam Ramesh’s denigration of India’s pharma industry is natural. An ardent Sinophile,he is a mouthpiece of Chinese disinformation. His rant comes in the backdrop of Chinas present grim crisis &India’s success.His lies stand exposed by the Gambian& Uzbekistan govts.#CoughSyrup
— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) December 29, 2022
The screenshot that Jethmalani shared was from Jairam Ramesh’s book that was released in 2005 titled “Making sense of Chindia: Reflections on China and India”. In the book, Jairam Ramesh mentioned his interest in China’s history, culture and other aspects. He talked about how competition and confrontations on several occasions did not make India and China natural enemies and discussed in detail how the relationship between India and China can be beneficial. Interestingly, Huawei found its mention four times in the 130-page book.
The first mention that Mahesh Jethmalani shared was from the chapter “The C-I-A Triangle”. Speaking about how India and America versus China needed to be clarified, he talked about how despite the America-India deals happening, there was an upsurge in business between India and China. He specifically mentioned Huawei and said, “Our foreign office is, no doubt, wary of China, and in January 2003, Mr Jaswant Singh set diplomacy aside and pooh-poohed Chinese statistics. The Chinese feel that India is unnecessarily obstructive in granting business visas and approving Chinese FDI and contracts won in public tenders. The Chinese networking major Huawei Technologies has a sizeable presence in Bangalore and wants to expand, much to the discomfiture of Indian security agencies.”
Later in the chapter titled ‘Vajpayee Goes to China’, Jairam Ramesh discussed then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s China visit in view of bilateral and regional initiatives. He also talked about the discouragement Chinese companies, especially Huawei, saw in India even though it “already employed over 500 Indian engineers in Bangalore.”
In the Chapter Growing Ambivalence, he again mentioned that Huawei employed 500 Indian Engineers and expressed dismay that Indian security establishments had expressed concerns about the company. He wrote, “We seem to be prisoners of the old mindset when it comes to Chinese investments in India”.
Later, in the chapter FDI Revisionism, he mentioned the company with other Chinese companies and insinuated that China had expanded its global presence exponentially. He further insinuated that foreign companies were attracted towards China because of the lobby against foreign investment in India.
Jairam Ramesh has a history of China-love
Jairam Ramesh’s love for Chinese company Huawei made headlines in 2010. Not to forget, then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed his displeasure over a statement he had made regarding Huawei’s investment in India.
When Jairam Ramesh was minister during UPA, Check how he used to do lobbying for Chinese companies in India.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) January 23, 2023
Now Jairam Ramesh leads Congress strategy and communication.
No wonder Congress is still Chinese propaganda that Indian soldiers were beaten at border. pic.twitter.com/l7b8DxUfXs
In a statement, Jethmalani said, “Starting from 2005, putting excerpts from his book why coming to India at that time and he was asking for an expansion of their activity which I find very strange. The Home Ministry under the UPA regime was objecting and restricting Huwaei’s entry into the country on the grounds of security issues, but he (Jairam Ramesh) was ridiculing these objections of the ministries, and the word he used in his book was paranoid. As far as from the earliest time that I was able to trace his links, which was 2005 when he published his book, ever since then his association continued with China and Chinese companies.”
On May 8, 2010, during his visit to China, then-Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said that alarmist and paranoid policies of the Indian Home Ministry towards Chinese companies and projects were a threat to the ties between the two nations. He added to have faced opposition from a “suspicious” security and defence establishment over climate cooperation with the dragon. He questioned the allegedly “overly defensive” policies of the Home Ministry towards Chinese companies like Huawei as the company was facing an import ban for security reasons.
Ramesh’s statement did not go well with the Indian government led by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) expressed unhappiness towards the statement he had made and asked to exercise maximum restraint while commenting on the functioning of the other ministries. The sources quoted by Economic Times had told Ramesh that it was “advisable for Cabinet colleagues not to make comments on the functioning of other ministries, especially with regard to the relationship with important neighbours like China.”
In a statement, then-Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The prime minister and the PMO have clarified that they have not appreciated the minister’s comment on other ministers and the working of other ministries when on foreign soil. Congress endorses this view. There should be no occasion to air opinion on other ministries even within the country”. There are enough fora and opportunity within the party and the government to state his views.”
Notably, Congress has faced criticism over its relationships with China. In 2008, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi signed an MoU with the Communist Party of China, which came under the radar for allegations to have well beyond nation-to-nation interests focused on the personal growth of the two political parties of neighbouring countries.
