’My Job To Be Informed’: Rahul Gandhi defends meeting Chinese envoy Amid Sikkim standoff

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jul 10, 2017 : Rahul Gandhi, attacked by the ruling BJP over his meeting with the Chinese ambassador amid a massive border standoff between the two countries, said in tweets this evening, "it is my job to be informed on critical issues."

 

Hitting back at his critics, the Congress Vice President also posted a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a swing with Xi Jinping during the Chinese President’s 2014 visit and commented: "And for the record I am not the guy sitting on the swing while a thousand Chinese troops had physically entered India."

Mr Gandhi’s statement followed hours of waffling by his Congress party on whether the meeting took place at all.

Till about 8.30 am, the Chinese embassy’s website referred to Mr Gandhi conferring with the envoy on Saturday, July 8, while highlighting that they discussed "current Sino-India relations". (Scroll down for screenshot). The Chinese embassy later deleted its post.

As the controversy grew, the party confirmed that the two met but added "there’s no need to sensationalise the meeting."

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "Be it the Chinese ambassador (Luo Zhaohui) or Bhutanese ambassador (Vetsop Namgyel) or former national security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, Rahul Gandhi met all three of them. Nobody should try to sensationalise such normal courtesy calls."

Last week, Mr Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not commenting publicly on the confrontation with China, reported as the longest since the 1962 war fought over Arunachal Pradesh with punishing results for India.

India has ignored China’s warning of "serious consequences" if it does not withdraw soldiers from what Beijing claims as its territory across the border in Sikkim. China claims that early in June, Indian soldiers entered the region it calls Donglang, and stopped Chinese troops from constructing a road there.

China says the land belongs to it as part of an accord it signed with the British in 1890.

But India and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan say the area where the land is being built belongs to Bhutan, which did not sign the treaty, and counts on India for diplomatic and military support.

Last week, in uncharacteristically blunt remarks, the Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui said in an interview that there was "no scope for compromise" and that for any dialogue to commence, India must pull back its soldiers. Delhi has ignored that warning, as also several threats in Chinese state-run media of India exposing itself to a "humiliating" defeat like in the 1962 war. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley retorted that the India of 2017 "is different from that of 1962".

PM Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Germany last week a day after Beijing announced "the atmosphere was not right" for a bilateral meeting. The leaders, however, had an informal discussion on "a range of topics", said the Foreign Ministry, refusing to comment on whether the Sikkim confrontation was part of the talks.

The area under dispute is vital to India’s security because it is located at the tri-junction of India, Tibet and Bhutan, and the road being constructed gives China access to a strip called "Chicken’s Neck", which links the rest of India to its seven north-eastern states.

 

Courtesy:NDTV