West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday cancelled her eight-day China trip following the lack of confirmation by the officials in Beijing regarding the meeting of the CM with members of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday cancelled her eight-day China trip following the lack of confirmation by the officials in Beijing regarding the meeting of the CM with members of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The Chief Minister took to Twitter to explain that in March this year the Union Minister of External Affairs had recommended to her to consider leading a delegation to China under the exchange programme of the government of India with the international department of the CPC and how in response on April 2 she had agreed to visit China in the last week of June and the later the chief secretary and the Ambassador of India in China had chalked out a programme.
‘Till yesterday, everything was going on well, but unfortunately, the Chinese side could not confirm the political meetings at appropriate level as informed by our Ambassador in China’, one of her series of tweets read while another said, ‘It has now been intimated by our Ambassador in China that the political meetings at the appropriate level under the Exchange Programme could not be confirmed. Therefore, the purpose of my visit with a delegation to China under the Exchange Programme is of no use’.
She also tweeted , ‘Although our Ambassador in China had tried his best to make the programme a success, non-confirmation of the political meetings at the appropriate level as proposed by the Indian Ambassador to China, at the last moment, has unfortunately compelled us to cancel the visit’.
Later, Mamata also tweeted that she wished the continuation of the friendship of India and China in the days to come and that it should strengthen in the interest of both the countries.
She was scheduled to leave at the 11.50 flight on Friday. State finance minister Amit Mitra told mediapersons at Nabanna on Friday that the Chinese embassy had not confirmed either to the Union External Affairs ministry or the state government of details including the date, time and schedule of the proposed political exchange programme.
“Chief Minister agreed to visit China following the request of the Union External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Chief Minister also said that she agreed to make the China trip in the interest of the nation. The Indian ambassador in Beijing had earlier informed the Union external affairs ministry that they would confirm the details of the programme by 12 noon on Friday. However, there has been no confirmation on this count as yet. So in absence of the political exchange programme, the trip is of no use and hence she had decided to cancel her China trip,” Mitra said.
However, there’s more to the cancelled trip. According to news agency PTI, the all-powerful CPC failed to recognize the stature of the Chief Minister.
Her visit has been cancelled due to the failure of the CPC officials to understand and appreciate her stature both as chief minister and as head of the political party, the Trinamool Congress and the importance of her visit, the sources said.
There was no immediate comment from the CPC on the cancellation of Banerjee's visit.
When Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited China in 2016, he had met Zhao Leji, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee Organisation Department, besides Song.
Sources said Banerjee's visit was expected to be rescheduled as both the countries have been making efforts to improve the relations following the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi providing a new direction to the bilateral ties.
Banerjee was scheduled to address a high-profile meeting of CEOs of Chinese companies in Shanghai as part of efforts to scout for Chinese investment in West Bengal.
(With inputs from PTI)
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