Amid China-India stand-off, Congress denies Rahul Gandhi's meeting with Chinese diplomat

Congress denies Chinese media reports of Rahul Gandhi meeting Chinese ambassador

New Delhi: With ongoing tensions between neighboring India and China, with Chinese authorities issuing continuous warnings to India over various issues and suggesting extension of support to enemy Pakistan, rumors of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Chinese envoy has raked up a massive controversy. The reports of meeting have been completely denied by Congreess on Monday and have termed the Chinese media reports as "fake news" and denied Gandhi’s meeting with Chinese envoy amid the China-India border stand-off at Doklam in Sikkim. Commenting on the same, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a series of tweets said some news channels were running "fake news" on Gandhi's alleged meeting with Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui. The channels "will not question three Union Ministers visiting China or PM's (Narendra Modi) bonhomie and praise at G20. Yet run fake news", Surjewala said. He alleged that the report was planted by External Affairs Ministry and Intelligence Bureau sources. "They should reverify that we still have diplomatic relations with all our neighbours," Surjewala said. Congress social media head Ramya said the issue was not if Gandhi met the Chinese envoy or now and questioned why the Prime Minister did not flag the border issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders met last week at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. "While Chinese incursions were happening, this meeting took place and the Weak PM didn't deem it necessary to speak about the issue," she wrote on Twitter and posted a picture of Modi with Xi Jinping at the summit. "Even if Congress Vice President had met the Chinese Ambassador, I don't see it as an issue, but the PM not flagging it in private or public is an issue," Ramya added.