The head of BJP IT cell, Amit Malviya, shared an image of Gandhi family in which he claimed that it was the picture from their 2008 China visit.
While the Gandhis did visit Beijing in 2008 and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Communist Party of China (CPC) to enhance party-to-party ties, Malviya wrongly used an image from 2017 as an alibi to the visit.
Maviya tweeted about the picture when the violent clash between India-China was at the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh.
Claim:
Malviya in his tweet said that when none of the Gandhi family members held public office in 2008, why did they accept Chinese hospitality. He linked the visit to the current tensions in Ladakh by saying, “Why is the family’s interest, from Doklam to Ladakh, above national interest?”
Arun Pudur, the chief of Celframe Technology Group of Companies went a step ahead to call Rahul Gandhi a ‘Chinese Agent’ while using the same image as proof of the Congress leader’s meeting with Chinese politicians.
Truth behind the false claim:
The picture was uploaded on the website of the Chinese Embassy on 21 April 2017.
According to the information given on the website, the Chinese Embassy had extended invitation to several India politicians including Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi and her family to attend the China Diaoyutai Food Festival.
Among other who were present at the event were BJP’s Suresh Prabhu who was the then minister of Railways, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, JDU Chief General Secretary KC Tyagi and others.
Did Gandhis’ visit China in 2008?
According to this report by India Today dated 7 August 2008, the Congress and the Communist Party of China (CPC) signed a pact to put in place a mechanism that would help regular high-level exchanges between them, soon after Sonia Gandhi arrived in Beijing with her family for the Olympics inaugural ceremony.
While it’s true that the Gandhis did visit China in 2008, an image from a 2017 event attended by representatives of several political parties is being used to insinuate that the Gandhi family had a “secret meeting” with the Chinese politicians, in wake of the rising tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
