Why on earth did Rahul Gandhi meet Chinese envoy? -Governance Now

Why on earth did Rahul Gandhi meet Chinese envoy?

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui has triggered a controversy so much so that it has put the party in a spot

Shankar Kumar | July 11, 2017 | New Delhi

#Prakash Javadekar #JP Nadda #BRICS #Doklam #Beijing #China #Congress #Rahul Gandhi #Mahesh Sharma

There is a huge difference between chalk and cheese. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, it appears, has not developed acumen to decipher it. He is not a quick learner. But, when a major stand-off between India soldiers and Chinese PLA is taking place in Doklam and the Chinese media is making provocative statements against India, it doesn’t make sense that he heads towards Chanakyapuri-based Chinese embassy to talk to envoy Luo Zhaohui.

Rahul met the envoy without taking the central government into confidence. Obviously, the talks between Rahul and Chinese envoy would have revolved round the current face-off in Doklam. But the question is: has Rahul any mandate to talk to a foreign envoy? If the Congress vice president was so desperate to know about the reason behind the stand-off, he should have sought an appointment with foreign minister Sushma Swaraj foreign secretary S Jaishankar or even NSA Ajit Doval.

His meeting the envoy shows his utter disregard for the country’s established norms and values.

The meeting put the Congress in a spot. The party first denied that Rahul met the Chinese ambassador, only hours later to confirm that the meeting did take place. Congress leader Anand Sharma says this happened because of communication gap between Rahul Gandhi’s office and the Congress headquarters. It’s an excuse for an act that has cause acute embarrassment.

The Congress has questioned prime minister Narendra Modi for his handshake with Chinese president Xi Jinping at G-20 meet in Hamburg in Germany. It has also questioned visits undertaken by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, tourism minister Mahesh Sharma and health minister J P Nadda to China during these tense times.

The party has forgotten that handshake is part of basic courtesy and the three ministers visited China in the course of BRICS related ministerial meets. China is going to host next BRICS summit in September. India, the current chair of BRICS, will handover charge to China at the forthcoming summit. Therefore, BRICS’ convention demands that the current head of the group provide all necessary supports to the incoming group head.

The question still remains: At whose behest did Rahul Gandhi meet the Chinese envoy?

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