Earlier, six hours after an assertive denial of meeting between Rahul Gandhi and the Chinese envoy, the Congress did a major flip-flop and said that not only did the party vice-president meet the latter, but the Bhutanese envoy as well. "Various ambassadors and envoys keep meeting the Congress president and the vice-president from time to time on a courtesy basis, particularly those of G5 nations and also of the neighbouring countries - be it the Chinese Ambassador, or the Bhutanese Ambassador or the former national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon," Congress spokerperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told ANI. Gandhi also referred to an IANS report of 2014 about Chinese troops entering India during the official visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had hosted the visiting leader in Ahmedabad.
Amid a stand-off between India and China over the disputed territory of Doklam which is claimed by Bhutan, the Indian National Congress denies the meeting of Rahul Gandhi with the Chinese ambassador to India.