PM’s blunders weakened India: Rahul

‘Ties with Russia disturbed’

Claiming that over the last six years, India has been “disturbed and disrupted” over its foreign policy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “indiscretions” have weakened the country and left it vulnerable.

Mr Gandhi was speaking in a video message on why China chose to be aggressive now.

The video message which was posted on Twitter was the first in a series in which Mr Gandhi would share his thoughts with people on various issues facing the country.

“Since 2014, the PM’s constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. Empty words don’t suffice in the world of geopolitics,” he said.

He said that one has to analyse multiple issues, including India’s economy and ties with neighbours and other countries, to understand why did the Chinese chose this particular time to move against India and violate the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and what gave them the confidence to turn so aggressive.

“Today, you have a country which is economically in trouble; in trouble as far as foreign policy is

Since 2014, the PM’s constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable — Rahul Gandhi

concerned; in trouble with its neighbours; and that’s why the Chinese have decided that this is possibly the best time to act and that is why they have acted,” he said.

He said that countries are protected by a “confluence of forces and systems. A country is protected by its foreign relationships, it is protected by its neighbourhood, by its economy, by the feeling that its people have and the vision that its people have”. On India’s foreign policy, Mr Gandhi said the country had relationships with multiple countries and it used to share a strategic partnership with the US.

“Today...we have a transactional relationship with the United States. We have disturbed our relationship with the Russians,” he alleged.