Did Rahul Gandhi meet the Chinese Ambassador to India or did he not — this was the discussion till Monday evening amongst all.
While the BJP and the Chinese Embassy said he did, the Congress initially denied any such meeting, terming it as ‘fake’. The Congress then did a U turn and acknowledged that the meeting did take place.
It said the party vice-president met Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui and Bhutanese Ambassador Vetsop Namgyel in an effort to understand the recent stand-off between the Indian and Chinese armies in the Sikkim sector of the tri-junction region of India-Bhutan-China.
“It is my job to be informed on critical issues. I met the Chinese Ambassador, Ex-NSA, Congress leaders from northeast and the Bhutanese Ambassador,” stated a tweet by Rahul’s office.
The Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, who had first dismissed it as “fake” news — and even asked news channels to verify facts before “sources” from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Intelligence Bureau “plant news”, later clarified that a courtesy meeting did take place between Rahul and the Ambassadors.
Interestingly, the meeting took place on July 8, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping for a quick chat at the BRICS summit that took place on the sidelines of the Hamburg G20 meet, when both leaders discussed the recent stand-off situation.
Aggressvie standAdopting an aggressvie stand after the slip up, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari questioned Modi’s decision to meet Xi in Hamburg, especially after the Chinese had made it known that a structured bilateral meeting is not possible due to the stand-off in the borders.
The party also questioned the recent trips by three Union Ministers — Prakash Javadekar, JP Nadda and Mahesh Sharma — to China in the last few days. Tewari said even a delegation of India Foundation, an organisation headed by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, was in China despite the neighbouring country denying visa to two Indian researchers.
However, when asked about the specifics of Rahul’s meeting, Tewari refused to share the details and said the party does not think that specifics are relevant.
The government is miffed with the fact that Rahul chose to approach the Ambassadors first instead of seeking a status report on the stand-off situation the MEA, sources told BusinessLine .
The Chinese Embassy too played into the game, as it first issued a press statement that its envoy had met Rahul, and later retracted the English version of it while retaining the Chinese version.
“One has to be very careful in dealing with the Chinese. They have already created a wedge in our domestic political parties. At his profile and stature, it is unbecoming of Mr Gandhi to meet the Ambassador himself,” said Jayadeva Ranade, President, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
Meanwhile, as both the political parties got engaged in the bickering, the standoff entered its 24th day, with the Army even pitching in tents as it readied itself for a prolonged confrontation. China has said it will only engage in a dialogue with India after it withdraws its troops.