No confusion over approach towards China: Manmohan


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday pulled up Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh for his critical comments against Home Ministry in relation to China as he asked him not to speak about functioning of other ministries.

Dr. Singh spoke to Mr. Ramesh and emphatically told him that there was “no confusion” in the government over its approach towards China with which it wanted to have “constructive engagement“.

Dr. Singh told Mr. Ramesh that it was “advisable for Cabinet colleagues not to make comments on the functioning of other ministries, especially with regard to relationship with important neighbours like China,” the PMO sources said.

The Prime Minister’s blunt message to the Environment Ministry came two days after Mr. Ramesh said in Beijing that the Home Ministry was “overly defensive” and “alarmist” in its approach towards entry of Chinese companies in India.

“There is no confusion in our policies towards China and we continue to strive for constructive engagement with Beijing,” Dr. Singh told Mr. Ramesh.

Mr. Ramesh, while talking about the India-China warmth developed during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, had suggested that the Home Ministry needed to be “much more relaxed” in its approach to Chinese investments in India.