DIDI CANCELS CHINA TRIP AT LAST HOUR
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was heading an Indian delegation that was due to travel to China under an official exchange programme, suffered embarrassment after the delegation had to cancel its trip on Friday due to non-confirmation of meetings “at the appropriate level” with the Chinese Communist Party from Beijing’s side.
The visit was fully backed by the Indian government, with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj having herself recommended Ms Banerjee’s name as delegation head.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was heading an Indian delegation that was due to travel to China under an official exchange programme, suffered embarrassment after the delegation had to cancel its forthcoming trip on Friday due to nonconfirmation of meetings “at the appropriate level” with the Communist Party of China (CPC) from Beijing’s side. The visit was fully backed by the Indian government, with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj having herself recommended the West Bengal Chief Minister’s name as delegation head. Ms Banerjee tweeted that the Indian ambassador had “tried his best” to clinch the confirmation for the meeting and that “till yesterday, everything was going well”, but it finally could not be done. According to PTI reports citing sources in Beijing, the CPC)did not facilitate her meeting with any senior leader besides Song Tao, minister of the CPC’s international department. The visit was cancelled due to the failure of CPC officials to understand Ms Banerjee’s stature both as chief minister and as head of the Trinamul Congress.