Has Communist China got the whiff of the ?impending political change? in Comrade Kolkata? Otherwise how would anybody explain a visiting Chinese business delegation?s desire to meet Leader of Opposition and Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee.
Incidentally, business delegations from China often visit the city but this is the first time that one such delegation will be meeting a senior Trinamool leader.
On August 31, the delegation from China?s Hang Zhou province is scheduled to come to Kolkata on an invitation of city-based Bharat Chamber of Commerce. After attending an interactive session with members of the chamber, the members of the delegation will visit state Assembly where they will first meet with Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim and then Leader of Opposition Chatterjee ?to discuss various aspects of intellectual property rights?.
?This is the first time that a Chinese delegation will be meeting me in Kolkata. But it is up to you to interpret whether they are doing this because they have sensed a change in the political scene,? Chatterjee told The Indian Express.
The Bharat Chamber of Commerce, which has invited the Chinese businessmen, said the visiting delegation had expressed their desire to meet the Leader of Opposition. ?This is the first time, we have seen one Chinese delegation expressing their desire to meet a Trinamool Congress Leader. But in any case I am not in a position to interpret these developments,? said Pawan Poddar, president of Bharat Chamber of Commerce.
Chinese Consul General Mao Siwei, however, refused to comment on it. ?I am a diplomat, and I should not make any comment on the political developments of a state,? Siwei said.