(TibetanReview.net, Feb18’25) – A comment by an Indian National Congress (INC) leader which suggested Feb 17 that China be not assumed as the enemy has sparked a controversy, leading the party to distance itself from it after strong backlash from the ruling BJP. Congress has also sought to take the BJP to task for its own alleged soft corner for China.
Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda had, in an interview with the IANS news service Feb 17, claimed that New Delhi’s approach to China has been “confrontational” and that mindset needed to change. His remarks came despite the fact that his party leader Rahul Gandhi had assertion in parliament that India had lost a part of its territory to China, a claim that has been trashed by the government, noted the NDTV.com Feb 17.
Pitroda had said in that interview: “I don’t understand the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has a tendency to define an enemy. I believe the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront. Our approach has been confrontational from the very beginning, and this attitude creates enemies, which in turn garners support within the country. We need to change this mindset and stop assuming that China is the enemy from day one.”
Pitroda’s reply came in response to a question on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump would be able to control the threats from China. India had rejected Trump’s offer last month to mediate an end to border disputes with China.
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The BJP’s national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha has said the crux of what he has called the Congress’s obsession with China lies in a 2008 Memorandum for Understanding (MoU) between the Congress and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Calling Pitroda Rahul Gandhi’s right-hand man, Pradeep Bhandari, another BJP spokesperson, has said, according to the ndtv.com report: ‘China isn’t our enemy’! This man sings endless praises of China while Congress party’s signing of MoU in 2008 reveal a cozy betrayal of India’s interests and prioritising China’s! It’s crazy how Congress always manages to keep China and Pakistan’s interests above ours.”
BJP demanded that Congress chairman and the Congress should for Pitroda’s statement.
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However, distancing the party from Pitroda’s statements on China, another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, general-secretary (communications), has taken swipe at PM Modi’s own “soft corner” for China.
Ramesh posted on X, “The views reportedly expressed by Mr Sam Pitroda on China are most definitely NOT the views of the Indian National Congress. China remains our foremost foreign policy, external security, as well as economic challenge.
“The INC has repeatedly raised questions on the Modi Govt’s approach to China, including the PM’s public clean chit to it on Jun 19, 2020. Our most recent statement on China was on 28th Jan, 2025. It is also extremely regrettable that Parliament is being denied an opportunity to discuss the situation and express a collective resolve to meet these challenges effectively.”
Accusing PM Modi of mishandling relations with Beijing, Ramesh has said in an X post: “The Congress party notes the announcement by the Modi government of normalisation of ties with China at a time when there are still many unanswered questions about the disengagement agreement of 21 Oct 2024.
“New Delhi and Beijing have agreed to restore commercial and cultural ties including direct flights between the two capitals, resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, liberalised visa regime and other measures following the recent Beijing visit of the Foreign Secretary.”
Ramesh has also sought to draw attention to the fact that India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar had once stated, “Theirs (China’s) is the bigger economy; what are we expected to do? Being a smaller economy, do we pick up a fight with a bigger economy?”