‘China not an enemy, collaborate not confront’: Congress leader sparks row on US offer to mediate

Congress leader Sam Pitroda has triggered a controversy by suggesting that India is unnecessarily hawkish with China and should work to improve the relationship.

Pitroda, the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress (IOC), said on Monday that India has been “confrontational from the very beginning” regarding China but that should not be the case. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the remarks and claimed the statement is part of collusion between Congress and China.

“I don’t understand the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has a tendency to define an enemy. I believe the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront. Our approach has been confrontational from the very beginning, and this attitude creates enemies, which in turn garners support within the country. We need to change this mindset and stop assuming that China is the enemy from day one,” said Pitroda.

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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

In the BJP’s reaction to the statement, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari referred to an memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Congress and Communist Party of China (CPC) and said “Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, George Soros work as China’s agents (sic)”.

“The secret MOU of 2008, which took place between the Communist Party of China and the Congress Party, that secret MOU has not yet been disclosed by the Congress Party. At the time of Doklam, Rahul Gandhi was secretly meeting China’s ambassador… Sam Pitroda’s statement clarifies that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party have a soft corner for China,” said Bhandari.

Pitroda is known for making controversial remarks that bring ridicule and criticism to Congress. In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, he made headlines for his comments regarding taxes. He was later slammed for apparently racist remarks where he compared northeast Indians as Chinese and West Indians as Arabs.

Trump referred to China in presser with Modi

In the press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump referred to the standoff between India and China at eastern Ladakh and said “it’s quite violent” and should be stopped.

Pitroda’s remarks come days after Trump appeared to refer to China as a common challenge facing India and the United States.

ALSO READ: From inheritance tax to Ram mandir: How Sam Pitroda keeps scoring own goals for the Congress

In response to a question on the Indian and US efforts to counter China, Trump said, “I look at India. I do see the skirmishes on the border, which are quite vicious, and I guess they continue to go on. If I could be of help, I’d love to help, because that should be stopped. That’s been going on for a long time, and it’s quite violent. It’s quite violent.”

Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of govt’s China policy

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has constantly criticised the Modi government’s policy on China. He has accused the government of being silent while China captured Indian territory. He has also accused Modi of making false statements .

“The Prime Minister has denied it and the Army has contradicted the Prime Minister, disagreed with the Prime Minister, that China is sitting on 4,000 square kilometre of our land — of our territory,” said Rahul earlier this month in the parliament.

Rahul further said, “Our Chief of Army Staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory. This is a fact. The reason China is inside our territory is important…The reason China is sitting inside this country is because ‘Make in India’ has failed. The reason China sitting inside this country is because India is refusing to produce and I’m worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again…If and when we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese electric motors, Chinese batteries and Chinese optics and we will be buying Chinese motors, Chinese optics and Chinese batteries.”

At a discussion in the United States, Rahul last year said that had a similar situation arisen in the United States, the president would not have been able to stay silent.

“How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 square kilometres of your territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying that he’s handled that well? So, I don’t think (PM) Modi handled China well at all. I think there’s no reason Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory,” said Rahul.

India’s pushback since Ladakh standoff

Even as India and China have reached an understanding to partially resolve the border crisis, there has been a fundamental shift in India's China policy since the Chinese aggression triggered the stand-off in 2020.

The changes were not just limited to improving the security presence and infrastructure in border regions but were there in the sphere of economic and trade policies as well to revamp the overall approach to China.

Following the Chinese aggression in 2020, India restricted investments from China, doubled down on boosting manufacturing under the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, mounted a renewed self-reliance initiative, stepped up diplomatic and military alignment with the United States and West to counter rising Chinese expansionism and muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region, and beefed up engagement with the ‘Global South’ to counter China’s outreach to developing nations.

India has conveyed to China that peace and tranquillity at the border is the basis of the broader bilateral relationship and it cannot be business as usual as long as there is tension at the border.