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Annoyed by the repeated indiscretions of environment minister Jairam Ramesh, the latest being his inexplicable criticism of government policies towards Chinese investment, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday pulled him up for speaking out of turn and commenting on issues not concerning him.The PM, sources said, spoke to Ramesh on phone on Monday morning and expressed strong disapproval of the statements he made in China. Ramesh, who was in Beijing over the weekend to attend an international conference on climate change, had said that New Delhi was unduly 'paranoid' and 'alarmist' about Chinese private companies investing in India.In a reference to the home ministry, Ramesh said the security establishment in India was 'imagining demons where there are none' and putting 'needless' restrictions on Chinese investments. He added that this approach was adversely affecting the bonhomie that the two countries created by closely collaborating in international climate change negotiations.The PM is reported to have told him that there was no confusion in India's policies towards China and the government was continuing to strive for a constructive engagement with Beijing. The phone conversation came after Ramesh sent a note to the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi explaining the context in which he made his remarks in Beijing.Ramesh's comments also invited strong reprimand from the Congress party which said Cabinet ministers should refrain from commenting on issues which are not under their jurisdiction."The PM and his office have already clarified that it is not appreciated that ministers comment on other departments and other ministries and subjects, especially when they are on foreign soil. We have no hesitation in endorsing this statement. In fact, we want to extend this further. Even domestically, there cannot be any occasion to question other ministries or air differences in public. There are enough forums, within the Cabinet and the party, where all kinds of views can be expressed," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.Sources said the PMwas upset with Ramesh's statements because of a number of reasons. Ramesh had spoken out of turn, without having raised this issue earlier in the cabinet or with his colleagues, and he had spoken in a foreign country. To top it, he was speaking about a matter that didn't concern his ministry in any way, and was an extremely sensitive issue which required a very nuanced approach from the government.The home ministry also reiterated its position that there was no discrimination against Chinese companies. "I would only like to state that China is India's largest trading partner. The total volume of trade is $38 billion between the two countries. The balance of trade is in favour of China by over $24 billion every year. Therefore, there can be no cause for stating that there is any discrimination against China in so far as trade is concerned," home secretary GK Pillai said."In so far as national security is concerned, our policy is to ensure that national security interests are protected and in every case, irrespective of the foreign country involved, where national security interests are concerned the government does take the policy decisions on a case to case basis and there is no discrimination against Chinese companies at all," Pillai said.
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