Rahul Gandhi meets with top foreign envoys in New Delhi

New Delhi [India], Mar 6 (ANI): Congress President Rahul Gandhi met with top foreign envoys of G-20 and neighbouring nations here on Wednesday.
Speaking to media on the occasion, Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "I am happy that wisdom has dawned upon some in the government. One thing we wanted to make very clear is when India is under any kind of attack, this nation speaks in one voice." 
The Congress President met with the Ambassadors of the United States, and China amongst other nations, on the occasion.
Luo Zhaohui, China's Ambassador to India, told ANI that "very good engagements" were held at the luncheon meet, while Frank Hans Dannenberg, Ambassador of Dominican Republic said, "We just had a very decent lunch. We just interacted and met. Very nice interaction."
The envoys steered clear of divulging the specific issues which were talked about, not confirming whether the recent Pulwama terror attack and the subsequent events were discussed.
"It was in fact scheduled for February 15 for G20 countries, heads of missions and the neighbouring countries, excluding Pakistan. But because of the Pulwama attack, we had to cancel that so it was rescheduled for today," Sharma said.
"The response was 100 per cent...It was very meaningful. It was not really about the menu but also the global and regional issues, economic and political matters of all continents which were discussed. When you have such a meeting, then every issue on the globe will be discussed whether it's the economic slowdowns, whether it's the jobs, political issues. Yes, terrorism did figure," Sharma outlined.
The senior Congress leader, however, refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the Balakot strikes. Instead, he sent out a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "We have been fighting terrorism. My very respectful advice to Prime Minister Modi is don't you teach patriotism to the Indian National Congress which has fought terrorism and two of our Prime Ministers, (Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi), were martyred for the cause of India unity and integrity and fighting terrorism."
"Don't politicise these issues, these are national challenges. The Indian Army, we all salute them. They belong to the nation, they protect the sovereignty and integrity of India, they protect our people, they defend our borders, they die for the country. They cannot be encashed politically," he added.
The envoys of G-20 countries like Argentina, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Japan Saudi Arabia were all in attendance. Representatives from neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal were all present at the lunch.
Sharma highlighted that the lunch was the most structured way to hold meaningful discussions, as there were many pending individual requests to meet with the Congress President and Congress leadership.
Meanwhile, senior Indian diplomats like former National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, had also been invited.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi also met with the envoys at the do. (ANI)