Mamata Banerjee cancels trip after China fails to confirm meetings with govt, party officials

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday cancelled her eight-day trip to China following lack of confirmation of proposed political meetings with members of the government and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

She was scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11:50 pm on Friday and was slated to attend a number of events in the country, however the Chinese side did not agree to Banerjee’s request for arranging a meeting with one of the top leaders of the CPC.

The focus of Banerjee’s visit was to attract investment for West Bengal and the chief minister was scheduled to meet potential investors at a high-level business seminar in Shanghai.

China not agreeing to her request and Banerjee’s cancellation is being seen as a “small setback” to bilateral Sino-India ties. She was to visit China under the ongoing exchange programme between India and the International Department of the CPC.

In a letter to the CPC, released on Friday, Banerjee wrote, “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.”

“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,” the letter said.

“Although the Indian ambassador to China had tried his best to make the programmme 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,” she said.

“The chief minister agreed to visit China following a request of the Union external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj. The Indian ambassador in China requested time till today 12 noon of our time, which is 2:30 pm of China’s time for a confirmation of the political meetings, as proposed by the Indian ambassador to the Chinese authorities. In absence of the political exchange programme, the trip is of no use,” said finance minister Amit Mitra at the state secretariat.

The request from the Indian side was that a meeting be arranged with one of the seven-member standing committee of the CPC, at the level of Vice-President.

As per the programme, Banerjee was scheduled to meet the minister of the CPC’s international department. But keeping in mind Banerjee’s stature in Indian politics, the Indian side had requested a meeting with one from the top Chinese leadership.

It was learnt that Indian officials in Beijing explained Banerjee’s position in Indian politics to the Chinese side but failed to convince the Chinese government.

On June 27, the chief minister was to hold a meeting with the mayor of Kunming. Mitra was to separately meet representatives from Chinese companies in Beijing. Banerjee had planned to return to Kolkata on June 30 via Singapore.