Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress and a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, stirred the hornet’s nest on Monday (17th February) by downplaying threats from China and claiming that the Communist-run country is not ‘our enemy’.
While speaking to news agency IANS, he claimed, “I don’t know what is the threat from China. I think there is always this thing blown out of (at times) proportion.”
Sam Pitroda blamed the US for creating a hostile perception of China. He went on to blame India for harbouring an attitude of confrontation towards the Communist regime.
Watch: On whether US President Donald Trump and PM Modi will be able to control the threat from China, Indian Overseas Congress Chief Sam Pitroda says, "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… pic.twitter.com/UaBvPVqdsr
— IANS (@ians_india) February 17, 2025
“Our attitude is that of confrontation from day one and that attitude creates enemy and that creates certain support in the country. I think we need to change that pattern,” he added.
“To assume that China is the enemy from day one is just not fair, not just to China but to anybody,” the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress brazened out.
He continued to heap praises on China. Sam Pitroda concluded, “I think it is time for us to learn to increase communication, collaborate, cooperate and co-create and not have this command and control mindset. China is around, China is growing.”
Congress and their China love
Interestingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has expressed his admiration for China on several occasions.
In his controversial speech at Cambridge Judge Business School in March 2023, Rahul Gandhi hailed China as an ‘aspiring superpower’ and ‘force of nature’. He further alleged that China harbours ‘social harmony’.
The Gandhi scion had also lauded China’s controversial and predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
During a conversation with The Print columnist Shruti Kapila in 2022, Rahul Gandhi praised the Belt and Road Initiative and claimed that China wanted the countries around it to prosper.
During his tour to Ladakh in 2023, Rahul Gandhi claimed that China had grabbed India’s grazing land in Ladakh. However, Gandhi during his UK visit in May 2022 had asserted that “Ladakh is to China what Ukraine is to Russia.”
The Congress leader back then had even urged foreign powers to intervene in India’s internal matters. Back in 2020, details about the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s (RGF) monetary operations emerged.
OpIndia had previously published detailed pieces about the Chinese government’s financial contributions of more than Rs 1 crore to RGF between 2006 and afterward.
In 2008, during UPA1, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Congress party signed an agreement for the sharing of high-level information and collaboration.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have served as trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation since 2005, while Sonia Gandhi serves as the foundation’s chairperson.
It’s amusing to see how times change and even ‘partners’ turn hostile, even if just to score political brownie points.
The Congress party had signed an MoU with the Chinese government, and Rahul Gandhi had secretly met Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui in 2017 during the Doklam standoff.
He even secretly met Chinese ministers in September 2018 during his Kailash Mansarovar visit.
