• Commentary
  • Research
  • Experts
  • Events
Carnegie China logoCarnegie lettermark logo
{
  "authors": [
    "Milan Vaishnav"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "SAP",
  "programs": [
    "South Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "South Asia",
    "India"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Security"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

The Double-speak of Parties on Foreign Funding

The latest crisis between China and India has set off an unseemly round of finger-pointing between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its principal national rival, the Congress, with both sides accusing the other of cozying up to the communist regime.

Link Copied
By Milan Vaishnav
Published on Jul 1, 2020

Source: Hindustan Times

As India’s border stand-off with China continues, the latter’s aggressive manoeuvres raise difficult questions about India’s diplomatic options, foreign partnerships, and future defence requirements. But the latest crisis has also set off an unseemly round of finger-pointing between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its principal national rival, the Congress, with both sides accusing the other of cosying up to the communist regime.

In response to Opposition barbs that the Narendra Modi government’s China policy has been tantamount to “appeasement”, the BJP unearthed evidence that Beijing had previously funnelled money into the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, a Congress-affiliated brain trust. Caught on the back foot, the Congress took the airwaves to argue that several politically-connected Chinese firms — from Huawei to Xiaomi — have donated millions of rupees to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES).

Read Full Text

This article was originally published in the Hindustan Times.

About the Author

Milan Vaishnav

Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program

Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He also conducts research on the Indian diaspora.

    Recent Work

  • Research
    India and a Changing Global Order: Foreign Policy in the Trump 2.0 Era
      • Sameer Lalwani
      • +6

      Milan Vaishnav, Sameer Lalwani, Tanvi Madan, …

  • Commentary
    Indian Americans Still Lean Left. Just Not as Reliably.
      • +1

      Sumitra Badrinathan, Devesh Kapur, Andy Robaina, …

Milan Vaishnav
Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program
Milan Vaishnav
Political ReformSecuritySouth AsiaIndia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie China

  • Commentary
    China’s Mediation Offer in the Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Sheds Light on Beijing’s Security Role in Southeast Asia

    The Thai-Cambodian conflict highlights the limits to China's peacemaker ambition and the significance of this role on Southeast Asia’s balance of power.

      Pongphisoot (Paul) Busbarat

  • Trump and Xi on a red background
    Commentary
    Emissary
    China Is Determined to Hold Firm Against Trump’s Pressure

    Beijing believes that Washington is overestimating its own leverage and its ability to handle the trade war’s impacts. 

      • Sheena Chestnut Greitens

      Rick Waters, Sheena Chestnut Greitens

  • Commentary
    A Second Trump Term: Will Southeast Asia Tilt Toward China?

    Tapping our network of China experts in the region, Carnegie China offers this latest “China Through a Southeast Asian Lens” report to offer preliminary assessments of whether the U.S. effort to reshape the global trading order will lead countries in the region to tilt toward Beijing. 

      • +6

      Selina Ho, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, Joseph Ching Velasco, …

  • Commentary
    The Challenges Behind China’s Global South Policies

    While China will remain a significant political and economic force in the Global South, its ambition to leverage the Global South as a counterbalance to the United States and the Global North is far from assured.

      Xue Gong

  • Research
    China Through a Southeast Asian Lens

    Because strategic, economic, and ideological perceptions of China contain multiple, sometimes contradictory facets in Southeast Asia, receptions of and responses to Beijing diverge across and within state lines.

      Evan A. Feigenbaum, Chong Ja Ian, Elina Noor

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie China
Carnegie China logo, white
Keck Seng Tower133 Cecil Street #10-01ASingapore, 069535Phone: +65 9650 7648
  • Research
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie China
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.