After Major Flip-Flop Congress Admits Rahul Gandhi Met The Chinese Envoy 

Did Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi meet Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui? Yes he did, and the Bhutanese envoy as well, said the Congress, six hours after emphatically denying a meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Zhaohui.

After the major flip-flop, the party explained why its vice-president met the envoys amid a tense border standoff between India and China.

"Various ambassadors and envoys keep meeting the Congress president and the vice-president from time to time on a courtesy basis, particularly those of G5 nations and also of the neighbouring countries - be it the Chinese Ambassador, or the Bhutanese Ambassador or the former national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

The party demanded that no one sensationalise such courtesy calls or “term them as events, like the sources from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are trying to do.”

“Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders are fully aware of or national interests and other concerns about the grave situation on the Indo-Chinese Border and Bhutan, including Sikkim," Surjewala added.

Surjewala also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, "Despite having sour relations with the China, our Prime Minister met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Germany."

Earlier, Times Now, said the Chinese embassy confirmed that the meeting took place through a press note early on Monday, which now stands deleted.

However, the Congress party came out in full force to deny the occurrence of any such meeting between the party vice-president and the Chinese envoy. Surjewala, in a series of tweets, said some news channels were running "fake news" on Rahul's alleged meeting with the Chinese Ambassador. ANI