Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday tweeted that the Modi government should accord diplomatic recognition to Taiwan which earned him flak from his own party, forcing him to delete the tweet. Chowdhury, the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, made the remark in a reference to China which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and hopes to again merge it with the country.
The Baharampu (West Bengal) MP’s tweet came after Taiwan donated one million face masks to India. “Be careful China, Indian forces know how to defang venomous snakes like you, the entire world is watching the sinister design of yellow expansionists,” he said in a tweet on Monday.
Chowdhury’s tweet, however, didn’t go down well with the party leadership and was forced to delete it.
Senior party leader Anand Sharma later clarified that Chowdhury’s views on China are his own and do not reflect the Congress party’s position. Sharma said in a series of tweets that the Congress recognises and values the special strategic partnership between India and China.
“The Indian National Congress recognises and values the special strategic partnership between India and China. As two ancient civilisations and large economies of the world both countries are destined to make a significant contribution in the 21st Century,” he tweeted.
“The views of Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in China are his own and do not reflect the party position,” the Rajya Sabha MP added.
Chowdhury is not new to cryptic tweets and controversial statements. Last year, he had made controversial remarks in the Parliament on Article 370 which earned him the ire of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.