By IANS
New Delhi : The Congress party Monday denied that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official visit to China was aimed at heading off accusations that India was getting too close to the US.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters that the prime minister’s visit to China was meant, “to tap the huge common area of interest” that existed between the two countries.
“It was not organized to offset closeness to the United States,” Singhvi clarified.
“Our relationship with any country is not dependent on our relations with other countries,” he said.
The Congress clarification comes after the speculations that the on-going China visit of Manmohan Singh was meant to appease the Left parties.
The Left parties, which support from outside the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, have been accusing it of bowing to US pressure on the nuclear deal, compromising on India’s independent foreign policy.
Singhvi said the prime minister’s China visit marked a new era in the Indo-China relationship.
“The visit will strengthen the areas of common benefit and lead to deeper engagement between the two countries,” he said. “It is also welcome as it shows our consistent efforts towards the Look East policy.”
Asked whether the border dispute between the two countries would come up for discussion during the PM’s visit, Singhvi said: “Border dispute is definitely on the agenda. Many a time other issues (those which were not planned out earlier) also come up and are resolved,” he said.
Rajiv Gandhi had taken the initiative in courting China by visiting the country in 1988 during his premiership. Recently, Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited China with son Rahul, who is also a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee.