Stop Assuming China Is Enemy From Day One: Rahul Gandhi's Aide Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda added that the time has come for all nations to come together. "China is around... China is growing .. you know you got to recognise that and respect that," he added.

Pitroda said that it's time to recognise and respect China.

Source : PTI

Congress veteran Sam Pitroda has said the threat from China is often blown out of proportion. The leader who is a close aide of Congress's Rahul Gandhi added that it's time to recognise and respect China.

"Our attitude is that of confrontation from day one, and that attitude creates enemies, and that creates certain support in the country. I think we need to change that pattern to assume that China is the enemy from day one. It is not just to China, but to everyone," Pitroda said in an exclusive interview with news agency IANS.

"I don't know what is the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has the habit of defining an enemy," he said.

He added that the time has come for all nations to come together.

What Did Sam Pitroda Say On China?

"I think the time has come for all of us to learn, increase communication, collaborate, operate and co-create and not have this command and control mindset. China is around... China is growing .. you know you got to recognise that and respect that ... Every other country is going to grow, some will grow faster, and some will grow slower.

"Those who are very poor have to grow faster, those who are well-accomplished and developed will have slower growth. Those who are developed will also have an ageing population, while those who are developing will have a young population. We will have to look at all these things together," he said.

Pitroda was replying to a question about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump would be able to control the threats from China.

BJP Attacks Sam Pitroda

BJP attacked Piroda over his remarks. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, "Rahul Gandhi's right-hand man Sam Pitroda: 'China isn't our enemy'! This man sings endless praises of China while the Congress party's signing of the MoU in 2008 reveals a cosy betrayal of India's interests & prioritising China's! It's crazy how Congress always manages to keep China & Pakistan's interests above ours."

Pitroda was reappointed as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, weeks after he resigned from the post last year following a controversy.

During a podcast, he cited ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Africans, Arabs and Whites to describe the physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country.