Coronavirus: Embassies take precautions while recruiting local staff, says MEA

The government takes “due security precautions” while recruiting local employees in embassies and consulates abroad, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, amid reports that a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was hired by the Consulate General of India in Shanghai.

“In certain countries, the hiring of local staff requires the approval of local authorities. However, all missions and posts ensure due security precautions in this regard,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said, reacting to the reports that the CPC members had got employment by the consulates of India and several other nations in Shanghai in eastern China.

Srivastava said that the MEA was not in a position to independently verify the reports.

The Embassy of China in New Delhi stated that the allegation hyping up the "CPC infiltration" was groundless and reflected “ideological prejudice”. “The members of the CPC are not monsters or scourges. They are all ordinary human beings who serve the people with their hearts and souls, Ji Rong, a spokesperson of the embassy, said in a statement. “Is there really anything to be afraid of?”

It is absolutely “ridiculous” and “wantonly smearing” to maliciously label CPC members as spies, added the spokesperson of the embassy of the communist country in New Delhi.