The Indian National Congress party’s official X handle and senior leaders including Rahul Gandhi actively promoted false narratives peddled by @Eng_china5 (China pulse 🇨🇳), a notorious Chinese propaganda account, during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held in Delhi from 16-20 February 2026.
The account, which has over 254,000 followers and carries a blue verification checkmark, systematically spread misleading information about the summit to embarrass India on the global stage.
Rather than verify the claims, Congress leaders weaponized this foreign propaganda for domestic political gain, making India “a laughing stock” internationally and undermining national credibility in the strategic technology sector.
The China Pulse Account: Profile of a Propaganda Operation Account
The China Pulse account operates as a sophisticated influence operation disguised as a news aggregator. The account’s bio explicitly states its mission: “China-related news and the international struggle for influence in Eurasia and a multipolar world.” With over 254,000 followers and Twitter’s blue verification badge, it presents itself as a credible source to unsuspecting audiences.
The account employs several propaganda tactics consistently:
- Amplifying Chinese achievements: Regularly posting exaggerated claims about Chinese technological superiority, particularly in AI and robotics
- Highlighting Western failures: Systematically showcasing vulnerabilities in Western technology and society, from Microsoft security flaws to US police incidents
- Creating false equivalencies: Presenting China as innovative and strong while portraying democracies as declining or incompetent
- Multilingual reach: Posting primarily in English with occasional Chinese content to maximize international influence
Suspected Origins and Operations
While the account presents itself as China-focused, investigations by Indian cybersecurity observers and fact-checkers suggest a more complex origin story. Evidence indicates the account may have initially operated with Pakistani affiliations before pivoting to Chinese propaganda themes. The account is said to be located in ‘West Asia’ and has changed its username at least 6 times.
The Pakistan Connection
A look at the past posts of this handle suggests it may have originally operated with Pakistani affiliations before transitioning to Chinese propaganda themes.
This hybrid Pakistan-China propaganda approach aligns with documented cooperation between Pakistani and Chinese information operations targeting India, particularly on issues related to Kashmir, economic development, and technological capability.
The AI Summit Controversy: How It Unfolded
The Galgotias University Incident
The controversy began on 17 February 2026, during the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Galgotias University, a private institution from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, displayed a robotic dog at its exhibition stall, branding it as “Orion” and suggesting it represented indigenous innovation developed at the university’s Centre of Excellence. Professor Neha Singh, a faculty member from the university’s School of Management, told DD India during a televised interaction: “This has been developed at the centre of excellence at Galgotias University,” referring to the robot dog. She also mentioned that the university had invested ₹350 crore (approximately $39 million USD) in AI development.
Rapid Exposure on Social Media
Technology observers and social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, a commercially available quadruped robot manufactured by China-based Unitree Robotics and sold globally for approximately $2,800 (₹2.5 lakh). The Go2 platform is widely used across research institutions worldwide as a programmable robotics base for AI experimentation and mobility research.
Screenshots from Unitree’s official website showing the Go2 model with identical specifications rapidly circulated on social media, exposing the misrepresentation. The university had simply rebranded a Chinese commercial product as its own indigenous innovation at a high-profile government-backed summit.
Government Response
Recognizing the national embarrassment, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and summit organizers took swift action:
Galgotias University was asked to vacate its exhibition stall on February 17-18, 2026. Power was cut to the university’s pavilion. A government official at the Press Information Bureau stated on condition of anonymity that Galgotias was removed because its conduct had become a “national embarrassment”.
The Centre issued a warning that exhibitors must not display items that are not theirs,
The university initially denied ever claiming the robot was indigenous, then blamed Professor Neha Singh for being “ill-informed” and giving “factually incorrect information in her enthusiasm of being on camera.” The institution eventually issued an apology for the “confusion created”.
Propaganda Campaign Against the Summit
The China Pulse handle immediately seized upon the Galgotias incident to launch a comprehensive propaganda campaign designed to humiliate India and portray the entire AI Impact Summit as a fraudulent exercise. The account posted multiple tweets over February 17-18, 2026, systematically building a narrative of incompetence and deception.
Follow-up thread – The account then published an entire thread titled: “The AI Impact Summit in Delhi: How an Indian university turned the entire event into a scandal and a farce. A detailed thread.”
The thread also claimed that Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had endorsed the robot as Indian.
This claim was proved as false by PIB Fact Check unit. They debunked it stating, “The Claim is false. The Union Minister has nowhere stated that the robot presented by Galgotias University is an Indian robot”.
The Chinese propaganda account deliberately fabricated statements by a senior Indian minister to amplify the scandal and maximize reputational damage to India.
Congress Party’s Role in Amplifying Foreign Propaganda
Official Congress Party Response
The Congress party’s official X handle posted on 17 February 2026, “The Modi government has made a mockery of the AI Summit.”
The post directly embedded and amplified China Pulse’s tweet showing the Chinese robot, with red circles highlighting both the Chinese account and the claim “Chinese media has also caught this matter”.
By officially sharing content from a Chinese propaganda account, Congress gave credibility and massive reach to foreign disinformation targeting India’s technology credibility.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the pile-on – quoting the Congress’s post, he posted, “Instead of leveraging India’s talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle – Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased”.
He characterized the entire summit as a “disorganised PR spectacle” based on a single university’s misconduct, thereby undermining a major government initiative in the strategic technology sector.
By amplifying Chinese propaganda without verification, Congress:
1. Legitimized a foreign influence operation targeting India
2. Spread demonstrably false claims about a Union Minister
3. Characterized an isolated incident involving one private university as systematic government failure
4. Undermined India’s credibility in the crucial AI and technology sector
5. Provided ammunition to China and Pakistan to mock India internationally
6. Prioritized political opportunism over national interest
Conclusion
The Galgotias University incident at the AI Impact Summit 2026 represented a genuine lapse requiring accountability. However, the Chinese propaganda account China Pulse deliberately weaponized this isolated incident to launch a comprehensive disinformation campaign designed to humiliate India and undermine its technological credibility globally.
Rather than recognizing this foreign influence operation for what it was, the Indian National Congress party’s official handle and party scion Rahul Gandhi actively amplified these false narratives, giving massive reach and credibility to Chinese propaganda targeting India. This makes one question the loyalty and motives of the grand old party and its leaders.
Subscribe to our channels on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and YouTube to get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
