Met Chinese envoy, it’s my job to stay informed: Rahul
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said Monday he met Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui as he took to Twitter to clear the confusion created by party colleagues over the interaction.
“It is my job to be informed on critical issues. I met the Chinese Ambassador, Ex-NSA, Congress leaders from NE & the Bhutanese Ambassador,” he tweeted.
The confusion caused embarrassment to the party as its chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala denied any such meeting but later accepted that Gandhi met Luo on Saturday.
Surjewala was responding to a television news report that said the two discussed bilateral ties in the context of the military standoff between the two Asian giants near the Sikkim border.
Gandhi tweeted: “If Govt is so concerned abt me meeting an Amb, they shld explain why 3Ministers are availing Chinese hospitality while the border issue is on.”
He posted a link to a news article on Union minister Prakash Javadekar’s visit to Beijing.
He took a swipe at the Prime Minister, posting a report on Chinese soldiers entering India with a picture of Narendra Modi with Chinese president Xi Jinping on a swing.
“And for the record I am not the guy sitting on the swing while a thousand Chinese troops had physically entered India,” the Congress leader said.
In his response to the news channel’s report, party spokesperson Surjewala clarified that not much should be read into the meeting since envoys of various nations meet the party president and vice president as a courtesy.
Also, he said Gandhi not only met the Chinese and Bhutanese envoys but also and former national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon.
“A wanting to be ‘Bhakt’ channel will not question 3 Union Ministers visiting China or PM’s bonhomie & praise at G20 yet run fake news!” he tweeted.
In the morning, the confusion escalated after the Chinese embassy said the two met but removed the statement from its website a while later.
“The two sides exchanged views on the current China-India relations and other business. Counsellor Zhou Yuyun attended the meeting,” the statement read.