'India, China should defuse tensions as per 2005 agreement'

New Delhi: Congress leader Anand Sharma on Friday said that India and China should try to defuse the current tensions by adhering to the 2005 agreement on 'Political Parameters and Guiding Principles' on the boundary issue.

"It is important for both China and India to adhere to the guiding principles to resolve all matters as decided between the Prime Ministers in 2005. We must as a country ensure that there is no deviation and those principles are adhered to in spirit so that there is no possibility of any escalation," said Kumar.

He was speaking to reporters outside the Congress party office.

India and China in 2005 inked the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the Boundary Question, during the visit of then Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to New Delhi who held talks with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The agreement had been firmed up by the then Special Representatives of the two countries - M.K. Narayanan and Dai Bingguo.

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Kumar said the government should take senior opposition leaders into confidence on what was being done to address the security concerns of the country.

"We are equally concerned on the recent developments on the Indian frontier on the borders with our western neighbour Pakistan, which has been marked by a series of incidents.... While India stands firm in protecting its sovereignty, integrity and its national interest, it is important that the Prime Minister takes the senior leadership of the opposition into confidence on what is the security scenario and how they wish to address it," he said.

Asked for his opinion on the Prime Minister's recent visit to the US, Kumar said that Modi did not do enough to protect the interests of Indian professionals on the H-1B visa issue.

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"Before the PM left for his visit to US, we urged him that he must protect the interests of Indian professionals on H-1B visa to US. They cannot be equated with immigrants as they are skilled professionals and do great work. The PM has returned without any credible assurance from President Trump," said Kumar.

He also said there was pressure by US pharmaceutical companies on Modi to take more than 100 expensive medicines off the list of essential medicines, and added that the government should not succumb to the pressures of US pharma companies.

--With inputs from IANS