CPC delegation visits BJP HQ, 1st since 2020 Galwan clashes

Amid progressively thawing India-China ties, a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited the BJP headquarters in the capital and is scheduled to meet the top leadership of the ruling party’s parent organisation, the RSS, on Tuesday.

A six-member group from the CPC’s International Liaison Department (ILD), led by its Vice Minister Sun Haiyan, held discussions with BJP general secretary in charge of headquarters Arun Singh and BJP foreign affairs department in-charge Vijay Chauthaiwala, among others.

The two sides discussed at length the means to advance inter-party communication between the BJP, which claims to be the world’s largest political party, and the CPC. Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong also joined the delegation at the BJP office.

This marks the first party-to-party contact between the CPC and the BJP since the recent thaw in India-China relations following the deadly 2020 Galwan clashes along the Line of Actual Control.

The restoration of ties began in October 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral engagement in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. That meeting facilitated disengagement plans along the volatile border and enabled the resumption of other dialogues.

The CPC delegation’s visit is significant, with The Tribune learning that the six-member group will interact with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale at the Sangh headquarters on Tuesday. Hosabale, the second-in-command of the RSS, will lead the Sangh delegation at the interaction, which the organisation is framing in the context of its ongoing centenary year celebrations.

“We are engaging with everyone who wishes to engage with us,” Sangh sources said, confirming the scheduled meeting with the CPC delegation tomorrow.

Established in 1951, the International Liaison Department (ILD), formally known as the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, is the primary body managing the CPC’s external relations and party-to-party diplomacy.

The CPC-BJP engagement comes at a time when India is considering ending restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, even as flights between the two countries have resumed.