Congress Targets BJP Over Engagement With China Amid Ongoing Border Tensions
A fresh political storm has erupted in New Delhi this week after senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hosted a delegation from the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the BJP headquarters. The encounter, the first formal party-to-party engagement between the BJP and the CPC since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020, was presented by the BJP as an initiative to strengthen inter-party dialogue and understanding. The delegation was led by Sun Haiyan, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and included China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, while the BJP side was headed by general secretary Arun Singh. According to the BJP’s foreign affairs department, the discussions focused on advancing communication between the two parties.
The meeting, however, became a flashpoint almost immediately, drawing sharp rebukes from the Indian National Congress. Congress leaders argued that the optics of political engagement with China at a time of heightened territorial tensions sent confusing and potentially harmful signals about India’s foreign policy priorities. Supriya Shrinate, spokesperson for the Congress, took to social media to highlight the contradiction she perceived between India’s ongoing disputes with Beijing and the warm reception extended to the Chinese delegation. She pointed to recent reports of Chinese construction activity and claims over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir — territory India considers its own but which China has controlled since a 1963 boundary agreement with Pakistan — to underscore her criticism. Shrinate invoked past conflicts, including the Galwan Valley clashes and alleged Chinese support for Pakistan during “Operation Sindoor,” while questioning why BJP leaders were photographed embracing CCP representatives in the national capital.
Another senior Congress figure, Pawan Khera, went further in his critique, questioning the BJP’s broader stance toward China. He accused the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of displaying inconsistency and hypocrisy — a “red carpet” approach to China that contrasted sharply with past rhetoric about standing firm against Beijing. Khera claimed that the BJP, even outside of government, maintained links with Chinese party structures and that such engagements undermined India’s security interests. He also raised pointed questions about apparent contradictions in the government’s policy — discouraging Chinese consumer goods on the one hand, yet allegedly awarding contracts to Chinese firms on the other — and whether substantive issues like the Shaksgam dispute were raised in the private talks.
The Congress’s reaction reflects broader political unease about India’s strategic approach to China, fuelled by long-standing border tensions and recent reports suggesting increased Chinese infrastructure activity in sensitive regions like the Shaksgam tract under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Opponents of the BJP framed the timing of the meeting as problematic, arguing that it created an impression of normalising or even endorsing closer ties with China while territorial disputes remain unresolved.
In defending the meeting, BJP representatives portrayed it strictly as intra-party dialogue, distinct from formal government negotiations, and argued that political parties communicating across borders can be part of normal political engagement. Nevertheless, the opposition’s attack has struck a chord domestically, drawing in issues of national security, political consistency, and public perception. The controversy has rapidly become a topic of debate in Parliament and across media platforms, illustrating how foreign policy can intersect with domestic political rivalries.