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?

Comments

Other News

Thus ends the Chidamba-Run!

The arrest of Palaniappan Chidambaram, former union minister of home & finance, by the CBI, albeit after his much dramatic disappearance and reappearance, has brought an end to his long run from the arms of law. As a finance minister, being at the other end of the law, the former ministe

What Imran’s rant against RSS tells us about Modi’s Kashmir policy

An unintended consequence of the inversion of Article 370 and the division of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories is the curious revival of Pakistan’s interest in Indian history and sociology. For the first time in decades, a Pakistan prime minister made the Rasht

On a Personal note with actor Neeraj Kabi

Neeraj Kabi, a critically acclaimed self-taught actor, theatre director, and acting teacher, has worked in Odiya, Hindi and international cinema, theatre, television and web series. In 2014 he was honoured with the best actor award at the 4th Sakhalin International Film Festival for his role in the fil

Talking to Trump, Modi hits out at Imran’s anti-India rhetoric

Prime minister Narendra Modi has told US president Donald Trump that Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s “incitement to anti-India violence” was not good for peace in south Asia. Modi and Trump had a telephonic conversation – their first since the Aug 5 move to chang

Paediatricians call for junking unhealthy food

As children are consuming more and more fast foods and sweetened beverages are becoming, leading to obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has come out with guidelines on such substances. The dietary guidelines under its nutrition chapter

Modi’s forward-looking I-Day speech lays down 5-year agenda

Contrast prime minister Narendra Modi’s first Independence Day speech in 2014 with his latest, the first in the second term, and you know the difference. His first speech was less about future and much about the basic needs like Swachch Bharat (clean India). His speech on Thursday, on the other hand,

Current Issue

Video

Opinion

Twitter

Tweets by @governancenow