On 18th August, the Kerala unit of the Congress party claimed that because various Chinese companies reportedly made donations to the PM CARES Fund during the COVID pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained ‘silent’ over China occupying 4067km 2 land in Ladakh, and is still silent on Chinese land grabbing in Arunachal Pradesh.
In an X post, Kerala Congress shared a screengrab of a 2020 report by the leftist propaganda portal The Wire, and wrote, “Several Chinese companies including TikTok, Huawei, Xiaomi donate crores of rupees to PM CARES fund. Why are Chinese companies, particularly close to the Chinese communist party, paying @narendramod to his private fund? Is this the reason why he was silent when China occupied 4067 km2 in Ladakh? Is this the reason why he is silent on the land grab happening in Arunachal Pradesh?”
The Congress suggested that somehow the PM Modi-led Central government has been ‘allowing’ Chinese troops to not only enter thousands of kilometres inside India but occupy Indian territory because some Chinese tech companies close to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reportedly donated a few crores to the PM CARES Fund.
The Kerala Congress essentially accused the Modi government of compromising India’s territorial integrity and national security to secure funding for his ‘private fund’.
It has been widely reported in the media that several Chinese companies operating in India, including TikTok (₹30 crore), Huawei ₹7 crore), and Xiaomi (₹10 crore), made donations to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), set up in March 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic.
These voluntary corporate donations were made amidst the global pandemic when many Indian firms also contributed to the PM CARES Fund.
However, the Kerala Congress skipped basic homework before levelling accusations that amount to treason.
Modi government banned Chinese apps and tightened FDI rules just months after Chinese companies made donations to the PM CARES Fund
While the donations by the named Chinese companies were made in March-April 2020, just two months after TikTok’s donation, it was banned in India in late June 2020.
The ban came over reports that some apps originating from China were stealing user information and sending it to Chinese servers. TikTok, along with 58 other apps, including WeChat, UC Browser, etc., were banned as they “engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”.
Before this, in April 2020, the Modi government effectively excluded Huawei from India’s 5G core networks and faced sustained restrictions on telecom contracts and equipment. Huawei has long been under the scanner globally over allegations that Huawei devices and equipment collect sensitive data of foreign countries and pass them to the CCP in China.
Since the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops, India has ramped up border infrastructure and military deployments to prevent any fresh incursion attempts by China. The Modi government had also tightened the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules from bordering countries, specifically targeting China.
If the Modi government were operating as a ‘Chinese stooge’ bought by modest Covid donations, it would not have permanently banned TikTok out of its largest overseas market, restricted Huawei, imposed stricter investment screening, and intensified security actions on the LAC.
The truth of China occupying 4,067 km² of Indian territory in Ladakh, and incursions in Arunachal Pradesh claim
In recent years, the Congress party has been randomly claiming that China has ‘occupied’ 4,067 km², ‘the size of Delhi’, and sometimes 2,000 km² of India’s land in Ladakh. Both the Central government and military sources have repeatedly denied claims of any Chinese incursions and occupation of land in Ladakh, and yet the Congress party and its ideological lackeys in the leftist media time and again amplify the same lies to portray the Modi government as ‘weak’.
This 4,067 km² claim was first floated by Subramanian Swamy, who has for years been a staunch Modi detractor, peddling conspiracy theories driven by his own disgruntlement over being ‘sidelined’ by the BJP.
Similarly, ‘China ghar mein ghus gaya hai [China has barged into Indian territory] claims have been made by Opposition leaders and their supporters about Arunachal Pradesh. In recent months, a blatant lie that Chinese troops have entered 60 km inside Arunachal Pradesh and occupied the territory has been amplified online through AI-generated images, deepfakes, and unrelated videos passed off as those of Chinese troops entering Arunachal Pradesh.
However, these claims have already been debunked by the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check unit and categorically labelled the claim as fake.
The PIB Fact Check confirmed that the videos being circulated do not show any recent Chinese incursion into Arunachal Pradesh. Instead, the visuals are either unrelated military footage or videos that have previously circulated online under entirely different contexts. The fact-check noted that the videos had been misrepresented to create the impression of a fresh Chinese advance into Indian territory.
⚠️ Fake News Alert!
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 7, 2026
🚨Several social media accounts are circulating videos falsely claiming that the Chinese Army has entered 60 km inside India. #PIBFactCheck:
❌ This claim is #Fake.
✅ The videos being circulated are unrelated and not from the India-China border.
🔗… pic.twitter.com/ZuQAvamplC
Before the PIB’s fact-check, the Indian Army had dismissed reports alleging Chinese encroachment and the construction of PLA camps inside Arunachal Pradesh.
In response to similar claims regarding the Taksing sector, the Army stated that reports of Chinese encroachment and establishment of military camps were “incorrect and without any basis.”
Be it Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh, the Opposition’s claims of China indulging in any fresh occupation of Indian territory are devoid of factual accuracy, and are alarmist political rhetoric framed in a way to establish an apocryphal narrative that the Modi government perceived to be uncompromising on the national security and integrity front has ‘surrendered’ before the ‘dragon’ in exchange for a few crores’ donations from China to PM Modi’s ‘private fund’, as insinuated by the Kerala Congress.
Notably, PM CARES Fund is not PM Modi’s ‘private fund’ but a registered charitable trust formed during the Covid pandemic to collect voluntary donations and respond quickly to Covid-related and future emergencies.
Congress party’s public, secretive and financial ties with China and the CCP
Ironically, the Congress party is desperately linking PM CARES Fund donations by Chinese companies during the Covid pandemic to India-China border issues, to portray the Modi government as a CCP stooge, while Congress itself has a documented record of coddling China.
The infamous 2007 Congress-CCP MoU
In August 2007, the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress party and the Communist Party of China (CCP) had signed a deal in Beijing for exchanging high-level information and co-operation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.
This MoU was infamously signed by then Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, and on the Chinese side, it was signed by none other than Xi Jinping himself, who was then the Chinese vice-president and standing committee member of the CPC’s politburo.
A year before, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had also led a delegation of the Congress party to China. This MoU between the CCP and Congress came at a time when the Left parties in India had openly expressed lack of trust in the UPA-1 government led by the Congress. However, the CCP went ahead with coddling the Congress party, since it wanted to deepen ties with the then most powerful political family in India.
Rahul Gandhi’s secret meetings with CCP officials
Not only the MoU, but the Congress party has also maintained secretive communication with the CCP leaders. Congress leader and perennial PM-in-the-making, Rahul Gandhi, was caught meeting Chinese officials on multiple occasions.
The first meeting had taken place in 2017, when Rahul Gandhi had a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui. This meeting came at a time when India and China were in the middle of a stand-off at Doklam.
As the news of their secret meeting leaked, Congress first denied such meetings and had termed news reports suggesting that the Gandhi scion had indeed met Chinese officials as ‘fake news’.
However, the Congress party was left red-faced after the Chinese embassy had itself confirmed the meeting between the then Congress vice president and the Chinese envoy.
This meeting came when the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi were consistently attacking the Indian government over their stand in the ongoing military standoff with China. The party received immense backlash for secretly coddling the officials of a country engaged in a direct clash with India, with the BJP even accusing Congress of taking notes from their CCP masters for their shared agenda against the Modi government.
In 2018, Rahul Gandhi had himself revealed the secret meeting with a couple of Chinese ministers during his trip to Kailash Mansarovar in September 2018.
Initially, this meeting was kept secret. However, later Rahul Gandhi ended up accidentally revealing the details of the meeting. At that time, questions were raised as to why both the Congress party and China were trying to hide the meeting if it was a mere courtesy meeting or devoid of any sinister agenda.
Congress forced its own leader to delete an anti-China post during India-China border tensions.
An interesting incident unfolded in May 2020, exemplifying how Congress self-censors any real or performative criticism of China by its own leaders. Back then, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary had published a social media post against China for its aggression along the LAC and had issued some warnings to China while praising the Indian armed forces.
Chowdhary warned the communist nation about how Indian forces can ‘defang the venomous snakes’ like China and stated that the entire world was watching the sinister designs of China while calling them “Yellow expansionist”. Chowdhury also urged the Modi government to accord diplomatic recognition to Taiwan “without much delay”.
Unsurprisingly, even the BJP supporters had rallied behind Chowdhury over a Congress leader making a rather rare nationalistic demand from a government known for its uncompromising nationalism.
In no time, however, Congress leadership forced Chowdhury to delete his anti-China post and even Congress leader Anand Sharma issued a clarification.
Rahul Gandhi hailed China’s debt trap model as a model of ‘prosperity’
In May 2022, Rahul Gandhi attended an event at the Cambridge University and heaped praises on China. Gandhi defended China’s rising influence in the Indian sub-continent and claimed that China wanted the countries around it to ‘prosper’ and hailed the Belt and Road Initiative.
“There are two competing visions now on the ground. One is the western, India is part of it, which is a maritime vision, and the other is a terrestrial vision, the Belt and Road, where most trade moves from China through the old Silk Road to Europe and China dominates that trade. That is the clash. That is what China is building. What China is offering to countries around it is the idea of prosperity. China is saying, allow us to build your infrastructure. Allow us to put in the communications backbone. Allow us to put in 5G…,” he said.
OpIndia reported earlier, however, contrary to Rahul Gandhi’s claims of China offering prosperity to Asian countries, the Communist nation has taken over infrastructure projects in countries like Sri Lanka after these countries failed to repay hefty loans.
Gandhi hailed China’s 5G offers even though China has been accused of spying on the countries that are using its technology, especially in government and academic institutes.
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received funds from China.
Back in 2020, details about the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s (RGF) monetary operations emerged. The Chinese government ‘gave funds to RGF in 2006 and subsequent years. It is worth noting that Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and the trustees have been Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra since 2005.
In October 2022, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of RGF was revoked by the Centre for alleged violation of the foreign funding law. It was reported that RGF received approximately ₹1.35 crore between 2005 and 2007 from the Chinese government.
Over the years, RGF churned out many pro-China articles and studies, including the ones advocating for FTA feasibility between India and China.
Why the Congress party is now casting aspersions on the integrity of PM Modi and questioning why PM CARES Fund is not under the purview of the Comptroller General of India (CAG) and Right to Information (RTI), the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, helmed by the Gandhi family, refused CAG audit and stayed out of the RTI Act citing the same reasons for which PM CARES Fund is exempt from CAG audits and RTI.
In PM CARES Fund’s case, however, the State Emblem of India and a .gov.in domain are used since the Fund operates like the domain because it is chaired by the Prime Minister and administered like the 1948-founded Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF), despite the government classifying it legally as a private public charitable trust. PMNRF is also a private charitable trust chaired by the Prime Minister.
Interestingly, while PM CARES Fund receives voluntary donations and does not receive budgetary allocations from the Consolidated Fund of India, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received ‘donations’ from multiple government ministries when the UPA was in power. These ministries included the Ministries of Environment and Forest, Health and Family Welfare, Small Scale Industries and even the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The RGF received funding from various foreign left-liberal entities. The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust also has a similar story.
Clearly, Congress takes delight in attacking the BJP and accusing it of caving to foreign pressure, while Congress’s own activities indicate its compromised loyalties.
India suffered territorial and geopolitical losses due to Congress’s blunders.
The Congress party is now attempting to bolster its ‘nationalist’ credentials by pushing a narrative that the Modi government surrendered India’s territorial integrity to an expansionist China. However, history records that India has lost a significant portion of its territory to China not in war but due to blunders of Congress governments.
India’s first Prime Minister and Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru made a catastrophic blunder and rejected the offers from the US and the Soviet Union to replace China at the UN Security Council to avoid conflict with China. While having a permanent UN seat would have elevated India’s global standing, the Congress government prioritised shooting itself in the foot so China could stand tall. Z
Despite the pro-China suicidal idealism, Nehru was viewed in China as a “lackey” of the British and the Americans. China returned Nehru’s UNSC generosity with the 1962 war with India.
Not to forget, Nehru-led Congress government presided over the disastrous Sino-Indian war, wherein 3,250 Indian soldiers were killed, and India lost around 43,000 square kilometres of land, captured by China. This includes nearly 38,000 square kilometres in Aksai Chin seized during the 1962 war, and 5,180 square kilometres in the Shaksgam Valley illegally ceded by Pakistan in 1963.
This 1962 war itself could have been avoided had Nehru heeded the military advice and warnings two and a half years before the war began. Lt Gen SPP Thorat, commanding the Eastern Command, had warned of a possible Chinese attack; however, neither Nehru nor then Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon took the warnings seriously.
In more recent decades, China occupied over 640 square kilometres of Indian land during UPA’s tenure. Between 2010 and 2013, China entered Indian territory around 600 times. The land grab happened after India and China signed nine agreements, including the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA). Despite China itself presenting the Agreement, Beijing essentially undermined the agreement and continued incursions into the Indian side.
The Congress governments had been so meek and weak that none of the bilateral agreements signed between India and China in 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2012 managed to stop China’s plans to occupy land that belongs to India.
It is due to the failures and disastrous policy decisions of the erstwhile Congress governments that China continues to audaciously stake claim over Arunachal Pradesh and fan tensions in Ladakh. Congress should first look at its own track record of receiving funds from China and toeing Chinese narratives going against Indian interests before accusing PM Modi of ‘silence’ on the imaginary land grab happening in Arunachal Pradesh.
