China Communist Party holds 1st meet with RSS

The Communist Party of China (CPC) held its first formal outreach with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ideological mothership of India’s ruling party, on Tuesday, signalling improving India-China relations.

A six member CPC’s International Liaison Department (ILD) delegation visited RSS headquarters in the national capital and interacted with the Sangh top brass for an hour.

RSS second in command, Dattatreya Hosabale, general secretary of the Sangh, hosted the delegation and interacted with its leaders about the history and journey of the organisation.

Sangh sources said this was the first official interaction of the CPC leaders with the RSS brass and it happened on the request of the CPC.

“The CPC made a request to the Ministry of External Affairs for a meeting and the RSS consented. In its centenary year, the RSS has been engaging all segments of society, politics and diplomacy. It was broadly a courtesy meeting, “ said a Sangh leader.

The CPC delegation also went around the Keshav Kunj premises, the newly built RSS headquarters in the heart of the capital.

Built by architect Anup Dave from Gujarat, Keshav Kunj blends ancient Indian architectural elements with modern and has 300 rooms for the residential accommodation of Sangh cadres. The complex has a built-up area of 5 lakh sq ft and can accommodate 270 vehicles and is ecologically friendly.

The CPC group was led by Vice Minister Sun Haiyan.

The same delegation had on Monday visited the BJP headquarters in an important sign of progressively improving ties between India and China.

Ties between the two countries have been thawing since the October 2024 bilateral between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping, a first since the deadly 2020 Galwan clashes along the Line of Actual Control.