At a time when the Congress party is facing all the heat over its secret deals with the Communist Party of China (CPC), another exposing detail has emerged further strengthening the claims of its intimate links with China. The new expose reveals that the Chinese government had donated Rs 10 lakh to the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’ in 2006 to give ‘financial assistance’ to its charities.
According to a document available on Chinese Embassy in India website, the then Chinese Ambassador to India to India Sun Yuxi had donated Rs 10 lakhs to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, which has links to the Congress party and is run by Congress leaders.
“To show the friendly sentiments of the Chinese people towards the Indian people, Mr. Sun Yuxi, Chinese Ambassador to India, on behalf of China Charity Foundation, donated 10 lakhs rupees to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation on January 27 to give financial assistance to its charities,” the Chinese Embassy in India website reads.
Manmohan Malhoutra, who was the Secretary-General of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation at that time, had received the funds on behalf of the Sonia Gandhi-controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
It is pertinent to note that it is none other than Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who heads the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Along with Sonia Gandhi, Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi are also the trustees of the foundation.
The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, which was established in 1991, claims to work on a range of issues including literacy, health, disability, empowerment of the underprivileged, livelihoods and natural resource management.
It is, however, intriguing to know why would Congress-party controlled Rajiv Gandhi Foundation recieve such a large sum from China, especially at a time when the Congress-ruled UPA government was in power in 2006.
The latest revelation of Congress accepting funds from China will provide more fuel to the ruling BJP’s attack against the Congress party, who are already at facing a lot of heat over their alleged links with the Communist Party of China.
Controversial ‘secret-deal’ between Communist Party of China and the Congress party.
A huge political controversy has erupted in the country after it was found out that the Congress party had signed a ‘secret-deal’ with the Communist Party of China (CPC) on August 7 in 2008 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”.
At that time, Congress party was leading the UPA-I govt in India and Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of the National Advisory Council, which acted as the super cabinet over the Manmohan Singh led govt. The agreement was signed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Wang Jia Rui, Minister in the international department of the CPC, in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and the then Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping.
The agreement signed by the Congress party with China’s Communist Party has gained significance after the recent stand-off between India and China at the Galwan valley along the LAC in Ladakh.
