New Delhi: Over the years, the BJP has time and again targeted the Congress over its formal engagements with functionaries of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, going so far as to allege that such dialogue was aimed at undermining India’s interests.
On Tuesday, the Congress sought to turn the tables on the BJP, a day after a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited the ruling party’s headquarters in Delhi and held a meeting to discuss ways to “advance inter-party communications”.
Even as the CPC delegation, led by International Department Vice Minister Sun Haiyan, also met the Congress’s foreign affairs department chairperson Salman Khurshid Tuesday, the principal opposition party alleged that the BJP’s decision to welcome the Chinese team exposed its double standards.
Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong was also a member of the delegation that visited the BJP office on Monday.
The Congress, which had repeatedly found itself cornered over such meetings in the past, seized the moment to strike back. The party said that while it never found these interactions problematic, it was the BJP that had “weaponised” them and should now be put in the dock.
“We never had any problem with such meetings between parties. The BJP used to have such meetings even when it was in the Opposition. But it cannot afford to have double standards. They cannot talk about the Congress party’s meetings with the CPC in one language and term their own meetings with them as strategic,” Congress leader Pawan Khera told a press conference.
During the day, the CPC delegation also met RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.
Khera, who is chairperson of the Congress’s media and publicity department, asked: “We have always maintained that these non-state players should not be allowed to control state policy. The RSS works behind the shadows, it is a non-registered organisation. Why is it allowed to hold these meetings? What is it that they have to discuss?”
The BJP-RSS have on several occasions questioned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Rahul Gandhi—in his capacity as the Congress’s general secretary—with the CPC in Beijing in 2008 for regular high-level exchanges and consultations. At the time, the Congress was in power, leading the United Progressive Alliance.
BJP leaders have repeatedly demanded that the Congress disclose the details of the MoU, alleging that it required Rahul Gandhi to “spy” against India and to undermine the morale of Indian forces when they act decisively against China.
For instance, on 31 March 2024, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X: “Shri Rahul Gandhi must tell us what match-fixing he and his party did with China. The MoU was signed in 2008 between the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of China. Was the MoU for surrendering Aksai Chin or to let China claim Arunachal Pradesh?”
The Congress adopted a similar line Tuesday, claiming that the BJP must reveal what transpired in its dialogue with the CPC, as China reaffirmed its territorial claims over the Shaksgam Valley “soon after the meeting”.
“China calls the Shaksgam Valley, an integral part of India, as belonging to China, while justifying infrastructure construction in Indian territory. Yet Modi ji invited the CCP to the BJP office. ‘Laal Aankh’ claims have, in reality, become the BJP’s ‘Laal Salaams’ to the Communist Party of China,” Khera said, pointing out that at least 12 meetings between the BJP and the CPC have taken place since 2008.
In 2011, when Nitin Gadkari was the BJP chief, he led a delegation of party members to China on a goodwill visit, Khera said, listing all such “BJP-China interactions”, including one in October 2008, when a 15-member CPC delegation visited the BJP headquarters.
“Did the BJP raise the issue of repeated Chinese transgressions? Did they talk about restoring the status quo ante at the Ladakh border and along the LAC? Has the BJP ever confronted China about its role in assisting Pakistan in Operation Sindoor by providing weapons, technology and jets?” Khera asked.
Asked whether Khurshid flagged these issues in his meeting with the CPC delegation, Khera said, “The CPC had requested the meeting with the Congress and the government approved it. What transpired in their meeting with the ruling party is important. Such important issues are not discussed with us.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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