'Capitulating before so-called dragon': Congress slams govt after Modi-Xi talks
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday attacked the Centre after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and accused it of "cowardly kowtowing" and capitulation to the "so-called dragon."
The party also termed as "anti-national" Prime Minister Modi's silence on Pakistan-China "jugalbandi" during Operation Sindoor.
Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that for a long time, India has been accusing China of its "double standards" and "double-speak" on terrorism.
"Now, Prime Minister Modi tells President Xi that India and China are both victims of terrorism. If this is not the so-called elephant capitulating before the so-called dragon, then what is it?" he said on X.
"Even more anti-national is the fact that Prime Minister Modi remained completely silent in his conversation with President Xi about China's jugalbandi with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor — something revealed by top Indian Army officials themselves," Ramesh said.
"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," the Congress leader said.
India and China on Sunday vowed to expand trade and investment ties to stabilise global commerce as Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi agreed to deepen bilateral ties to combat pressing challenges and work towards a "fair" solution to the festering border issue.
The talks between the two leaders covered a range of issues, including reducing India-China trade deficit, tackling challenges like terrorism, and ensuring fair trade on multilateral platforms.
The Ministry of External Affairs said, in their talks, Modi and Xi reaffirmed that the two countries are development partners, and not rivals, and that their differences should not turn into disputes.
Modi also mentioned the challenge of cross-border terrorism and pitched for extending support to each other to combat the menace, as both India and China have been impacted by it, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
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Dense fog disrupts operations at Delhi airport; 228 flights cancelled, 5 diverted
New Delhi (PTI): Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Delhi Airport on Monday, with various airlines cancelling 228 flights and diverting five to nearby airports due to low visibility, an official said.
However, except for Air India, which had in an X post in the morning announced the cancellation of some 40 flights, no other airlines, including crisis-hit IndiGo, shared the numbers of their cancelled or delayed flights.
"As many as 228 flights -- 131 departures and 97 arrivals-- have been cancelled due to low visibility, so far," the airport official said.
In addition to this, five flights have been diverted so far, he said.
Earlier, the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), in a statement, said, "Our on-ground officials are working closely with all stakeholders to assist passengers and provide necessary support across Terminals.
"Low visibility (below minima), due to dense fog, has severely impacted operations at Delhi and other airports across northern India, which is unfortunately beyond our control," IndiGo said in a statement.
As operations are adjusted to prevailing weather conditions, some flights may experience delays, while a few others may be proactively cancelled during the day to prioritise safety and minimise extended waiting at the airport, the airline said in a statement.
IndiGo, however, did not say how many of its flights were cancelled or delayed.
The airline said its teams are "closely monitoring" the situation and coordinating with Delhi airport.
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IndiGo also said it issued advisories to its customers and "proactively" informing them, to minimise inconvenience.
“Poor visibility due to dense fog in Delhi this morning has impacted flight operations for all airlines. We are closely monitoring conditions and will resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” Air India said in a post on X in the morning.
It also said that some flights have been cancelled In the interest of safety, and to avoid prolonged uncertainty for the guests, while listing out some 40 arrivals and departures that it had cancelled for the day.
Delhi airport is the country's busiest, handling around 1,300 flight movements daily.
