On Monday, the Congress party claimed that since 2008, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has conducted 12 meetings with officials from the Communist Party of China (CPC), most of which took place in China. The Congress demanded a complete record of the minutes from these meetings and sought clarification from the BJP about the frequency and nature of these engagements.
Pawan Khera, Chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) media department, issued a statement questioning the BJP's reluctance to confront China, particularly since June 2020 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration was accused of being lenient on China's actions in Ladakh. Khera speculated that the frequent meetings between the BJP and CPC could be influencing this stance.
"There have been at least 12 meetings since 2008 where Bharatiya Janata Party politicians have met with Communist Party of China officials, most of them in China itself," Khera stated. He emphasized the need for transparency, demanding the minutes of these meetings and questioning why such frequent interactions were necessary, especially following the Doklam clash in 2017.
Khera listed the meetings, highlighting an October 2008 visit by a 15-member Chinese delegation to the BJP Central Office, during which Rajnath Singh expressed the BJP's support for positive relations with China. He further pressed for answers about the content and outcomes of these meetings, the training BJP cadres received at the Communist Party School, and the timing of meetings coinciding with significant border clashes like Doklam.
"Why did BJP-RSS leaders meet with the CPC in the same month as the June 2017 border clash at Doklam? What is the nature of this relationship?" Khera asked, challenging the BJP to provide clarity on these interactions.
