Beijing may have summoned the Indian Ambassador at 2 am to protest against the Tibetans trying to scale their Embassy wall in New Delhi but all this was off the record today as a high-level delegation of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) came knocking on the Congress doors with a red carpet.

Signaling a readiness to look beyond its ideological brethren among the Left, the CPC came to the Congress with a proposal to hold a conference in Beijing to mark the 20th anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi’s path-breaking visit to China in December 1988. The CPC also invited Rahul Gandhi to inaugurate the conference likely to be held towards the year-end.

The CPC proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Congress Party to form an “institutional mechanism of collaboration” between the two. The Chinese delegation, led by Li Jinjun, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, proposed that Rahul should come to China to inaugurate the conference. These proposals were accepted by the Congress delegation led by senior party leader Devendra Dwivedi.

Although no dates have been finalized, Congress sources said that Rahul could time his visit to China in such a way that he inaugurates the conference and also signs the MoU.

The growing warmth between the two parties was evident during Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s visit to China last October. China had rolled out a red carpet welcome with President Hu Jintao hosting a banquet in her honour. She had extensive discussions with the Chinese leadership, including Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China in January this year. Earlier, Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC, led a delegation to meet Congress leaders in New Delhi last year.

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