Rahul Gandhi had visited Kailash Mansarovar last year (File)
Amid a row over Rahul Gandhi's trip to Kailash Mansarovar last year after the Congress president on Friday said he had also met Chinese ministers during the trip, Beijing's envoy to India today said all Indian pilgrims were welcome in China.
"The Chinese government, the Chinese side will welcome all pilgrims from India," Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui said in response to a question on Mr Gandhi meeting his country's ministers.
Taking a potshot at the Congress, the BJP accused Mr Gandhi of acting as a "Chinese propagandist" and asked him to give complete details of his meeting with the Chinese ministers and officials during his Kailash Mansarovar visit.
"The Kailash Mansarovar yatra was an excuse. He had gone to meet these ministers. Rahul Gandhi is not an ordinary citizen. Why did he not inform the Ministry of External Affairs? Why was the Indian embassy not kept in loop? We want to know the details of his talks," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters.
The BJP's attack on Mr Gandhi came after the Congress president said at a public meeting in Odisha that the Chinese ministers told him during his Kailash Mansarovar in August-September last year that job creation was not a problem in their country.
"When I had gone to Kailash, I had met a couple of their ministers and they had said job creation was not a problem in China at all," Mr Gandhi had said.