‘China not an enemy, collaborate not confront’: Congress chief sparks row on US provide to mediate

Congress chief Sam Pitroda has triggered an issue by suggesting that India is unnecessarily hawkish with China and may work to enhance the connection.

Pitroda, the Chairman of Indian Abroad Congress (IOC), mentioned on Monday that India has been “confrontational from the very starting” concerning China however that shouldn’t be the case. The Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) has slammed the remarks and claimed the assertion is a part of collusion between Congress and China.

“I don’t perceive the risk from China. I believe this situation is commonly blown out of proportion as a result of the US tends to outline an enemy. I imagine the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront. Our strategy has been confrontational from the very starting, and this angle creates enemies, which in flip garners assist throughout the nation. We have to change this mindset and cease assuming that China is the enemy from day one,” mentioned Pitroda.

Watch: On whether or not US President Donald Trump and PM Modi will be capable to management the risk from China, Indian Abroad Congress Chief Sam Pitroda says, “I do not perceive the risk from China. I believe this situation is commonly blown out of proportion as a result of the U.S. tends… pic.twitter.com/UaBvPVqdsr

— IANS (@ians_india) February 17, 2025

Within the BJP’s response to the assertion, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari referred to an memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Congress and Communist Celebration of China (CPC) and mentioned “Congress occasion, Rahul Gandhi, George Soros work as China’s brokers (sic)”.

“The key MOU of 2008, which occurred between the Communist Celebration of China and the Congress Celebration, that secret MOU has not but been disclosed by the Congress Celebration. On the time of Doklam, Rahul Gandhi was secretly assembly China’s ambassador… Sam Pitroda’s assertion clarifies that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Celebration have a gentle nook for China,” mentioned Bhandari.

Pitroda is
identified for making controversial remarks that carry ridicule and criticism to Congress. Within the run as much as the Lok Sabha elections, he made headlines for his feedback concerning taxes. He was later slammed for apparently racist remarks the place he in contrast northeast Indians as Chinese language and West Indians as Arabs.

Trump referred to China in presser with Modi

Within the press convention with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump referred to the standoff between India and China at japanese Ladakh and mentioned “it’s fairly violent” and must be stopped.

Pitroda’s remarks come days after Trump appeared to check with China as a typical problem dealing with India and america.

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In response to a query on the Indian and US efforts to counter China, Trump mentioned, “I have a look at India. I do see the skirmishes on the border, that are fairly vicious, and I suppose they proceed to go on. If I might be of assist, I’d love to assist, as a result of that must be stopped. That’s been occurring for a very long time, and it’s fairly violent. It’s fairly violent.”

Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of govt’s China coverage

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has continuously criticised the Modi authorities’s coverage on China. He has accused the federal government of being silent whereas China captured Indian territory. He has additionally
accused Modi of creating false statements.

“The Prime Minister has denied it and the Military has contradicted the Prime Minister, disagreed with the Prime Minister, that China is sitting on 4,000 sq. kilometre of our land — of our territory,” mentioned Rahul earlier this month within the parliament.

Rahul additional mentioned, “Our Chief of Military Employees has mentioned that the Chinese language are inside our territory. It is a truth. The rationale China is inside our territory is vital…The rationale China is sitting inside this nation is as a result of ‘Make in India’ has failed. The rationale China sitting inside this nation is as a result of India is refusing to provide and I’m nervous that India goes to surrender this revolution to the Chinese language as soon as once more…If and after we combat a warfare with China, we will likely be preventing with Chinese language electrical motors, Chinese language batteries and Chinese language optics and we will likely be shopping for Chinese language motors, Chinese language optics and Chinese language batteries.”

At a dialogue in america, Rahul final 12 months mentioned that had an analogous state of affairs arisen in america, the president wouldn’t have been capable of keep silent.

“How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 sq. kilometres of your territory? Would any president be capable to get away with saying that he’s dealt with that nicely? So, I don’t suppose (PM) Modi dealt with China nicely in any respect. I believe there’s no cause Chinese language troops must be sitting in our territory,” mentioned Rahul.

India’s pushback since Ladakh standoff

Whilst India and China have reached an understanding to partially resolve the border disaster,
there was a basic shift in India’s China coverage because the Chinese language aggression triggered the stand-off in 2020.

The adjustments weren’t simply restricted to enhancing the safety presence and infrastructure in border areas however had been there within the sphere of financial and commerce insurance policies as nicely to revamp the general strategy to China.

Following the Chinese language aggression in 2020, India restricted investments from China, doubled down on boosting manufacturing beneath the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, mounted a renewed self-reliance initiative, stepped up diplomatic and army alignment with america and West to counter rising Chinese language expansionism and muscle-flexing within the Indo-Pacific area, and beefed up engagement with the ‘World South’ to counter China’s outreach to creating nations.

India has conveyed to China that peace and tranquillity on the border is the premise of the broader bilateral relationship and it can’t be enterprise as normal so long as there’s pressure on the border.