Congress Leader's “China Not Our Enemy” Remark Sparks Huge Row

Sam Pitroda, the Congress overseas unit chief, has courted a new controversy after claiming that the threat from China is often blown out of proportion. His suggestion that India needs to stop assuming China as an enemy drew a sharp backlash from the ruling BJP, which called out his party over its “obsessive fascination for China”.

Mr Pitroda, who is not unknown to controversies, went on to claim that India’s approach to China has been confrontational and that mindset needed to change.

“I don’t understand the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the U.S. has a tendency to define an enemy. I believe the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront,” he said told IANS in an exclusive interview. His reply came to a question on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump would be able to control the threats from China.

Hitting back, the BJP said the crux of the Congress’s obsession for China lies in a 2008 Memorandum for Understanding between the Congress and Chinese Communist Party.

“Those who ceded away 40,000 square km of our land to China, still see no threat from the Dragon. No wonder Rahul Gandhi is in awe of China and was rooting for BRI one day before the IMEEC was announced. The crux of Congress party’s obsessive fascination for China, lies hidden in the mysterious 2008 Cong-CCP MOU,” said the BJP’s national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha.