New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday accused the Centre of launching a 'propaganda campaign' to portray critics of the Great Nicobar Island Project as being 'soft on China', while alleging that the Narendra Modi government itself has followed a policy of 'Continuing, Calibrated Capitulation to China'.

In a post shared on X, Ramesh said the government was attempting to divert attention from the ecological and humanitarian concerns surrounding the project.

'The Modi Govt has now launched a propaganda campaign through its ecosystem to portray all those concerned about the ecological havoc that will be caused by the Great Nicobar Island Project as being 'soft on China'. This is the height of hypocrisy, coming as it does from a Govt that practices the 4C policy--Continuing, Callibrated Capitulation to China,' he wrote.

The Congress leader further alleged that the BJP-led government had compromised India's position in its dealings with China on several fronts.

Referring to the Galwan clash, Ramesh said, 'It was the PM who gave an inexplicable clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, in a brazen insult to the 20 jawans who had been martyred earlier in Ladakh.'

He also alleged that the government had given up traditional patrolling and herding rights in several areas of Ladakh during negotiations with China and criticised the trade imbalance between the two countries.

'It is the Modi Govt that has, in negotiations with China, given up traditional patrolling and herding rights in very many locations in Ladakh. It is under the PM's close watch that India had a record trade deficit with China of about USD 115 billion in 2025-26, much to the disadvantage of Indian industry, especially MSMEs,' he said.

Ramesh further claimed that the Centre had failed to address allegations made by senior Army officers regarding China's alleged role in supporting Pakistan during Operation Sindoor in May 2025.

'The PM has done nothing on the revelations of senior army officers on the absolutely pivotal role of China in planning, monitoring, and executing Pakistan's response to Operation Sindoor in May 2025,' he added.

Questioning the strategic rationale behind the Great Nicobar Project, the Congress leader said the transshipment port proposed under the project did not include military infrastructure and alleged that suggestions to expand defence infrastructure at INS Baaz and other locations in the Andaman and Nicobar Command were being ignored.

He also alleged that the project was being pushed to serve business interests, calling it part of a 'sprawling Modani business empire', and warned of ecological and humanitarian damage.

'The incontrovertible fact is that India has to deal with the economic and strategic challenge from China on an ongoing basis across many fronts. But the Great Nicobar Island Project is overwhelmingly a commercial enterprise and the transshipment port that is part of it has no component of military infrastructure. Ways to expand that infrastructure at INS Baaz and other location of the Andaman & Nicobar Command have been suggested but are being ignored for long because the Great Nicobar Island Project that the PM is bulldozing through is, in all likelihood, going to be part of the sprawling Modani business empire. Sadly, that will have disastrous ecological and humanitarian impacts,' Ramesh added.

https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2056956509180014621

His comments came days after the government defended the Great Nicobar Project, describing it as a strategic and economic initiative aimed at transforming Great Nicobar into a major maritime hub.

According to the government, the project seeks to leverage the island's proximity--around 40 nautical miles--to the East-West shipping route and reduce India's dependence on foreign transshipment ports while serving defence and national security objectives.

The project includes a 14.2 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (MTEU) International Container Transshipment Terminal, a Greenfield International Airport with a capacity of 4,000 peak hour passengers, a 450 MVA gas-solar power plant and a planned township.

The government has also said the project complies with environmental regulations under the EIA Notification, 2006 and ICRZ Notification, 2019, with 42 compliance conditions attached to the clearance.

It further stated that only 1.82 per cent of the island's forest cover would be diverted, and compensatory afforestation would be undertaken over 97.30 square kilometres.

The Centre has maintained that tribal welfare remains central to the project and said no displacement of the Shompen and Nicobarese communities has been proposed. It added that the project is aligned with the Shompen Policy of 2015 and the Jarawa Policy of 2004. (ANI)