A delegation of the Communist Party of China called on RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale here on Tuesday, sources said.

This marks the first party-to-party contact between the CPC and the BJP since the recent thaw in India-China relations following the deadly 2020 Galwan clashes along the Line of Actual Control.

The Chinese delegation met the RSS second-in-command here at 11 am at his office, and the meeting lasted for about an hour, the sources said.

"It was a courtesy call by them. The request for the meeting had come from the Chinese side," they said.

"A delegation of Communist Party of China under the leadership of Sun Haiyan (vice minister) visited BJP head office today. A BJP delegation headed by Arun Singhji discussed at length the means to advance inter-party communications between BJP and CPC. Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong also joined the delegation," BJP foreign affairs incharge Vijay Chauthaiwale said in a post after the meeting where he was also present.

This comes a day after a Chinese Communist Party delegation, led by its international department's Vice Minister Sun Haiyan, visited the BJP headquarters here on Monday.

During the meeting, the BJP delegation, headed by party national general secretary Arun Singh, discussed at length "the means to advance inter-party communications between the BJP and the CPC." Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong was also part of the delegation which visited the BJP office on Monday.

Sources said the Chinese team also invited BJP leaders to visit China. Singh headed a BJP MPs' delegation to China in 2019. Attempts are being made to open channels between the two parties, BJP sources said.

The restoration of ties began in October 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral engagement in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. That meeting facilitated disengagement plans along the volatile border and enabled the resumption of other dialogues.