'Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh': Rahul terms Modi's handling a 'disaster'

Gandhi, who is Washington DC, United States, opined that there is no reason for Chinese troops to be sitting in India's territory and also asked how America would react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 sq km of their territory.

During an interaction at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that PM Narendra Modi hasn't handled China well at all.

Gandhi, who is in Washington DC, United States, opined that there is no reason for Chinese troops to be sitting in India's territory and also asked that if America would react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 sq km of their territory.

He said, "If you call having Chinese troops in 4,000 sq km of our territory handling something well, then maybe... we have got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh. I think that's a disaster.

"How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 sq km of your territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying that he's handled that well? So, I don't think (PM) Modi handled China well at all. I think there's no reason Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory," the LoP said.

Gandhi also alleged that democracy in India for the last 10 years was broken, but now it is fighting back.

“I have seen the government of Maharashtra just being taken away from us. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've watched it, as our legislators have been bought in and hooked off and suddenly became BJP legislators. So Indian democracy has been under attack, has been very badly weakened, and now it's fighting back. And I'm confident that it'll fight back,” Gandhi said.

He said, "We fought an election with our bank accounts frozen. I don't know any democracy where that's happened. Maybe that type of thing happened in Syria or used to happen in Iraq. But we literally sat during our election and spoke to our treasurer, and he says, well, we have no money. Now, you can have a resilient voter. You still need to run campaigns. You still need to have conversations. You still need to have meetings,"

At a press conference which was held on Tuesday at the prestigious National Press Club in US, Gandhi supported Modi's policies on Pakistan.

Gandhi indicated that the Congress is in alignment with the ruling BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on major foreign policy issues like the relationship with the US, no talks with Pakistan unless the flow of terrorism is stopped, and concerns over extremist elements in Bangladesh and Israel.

“Pakistan's instigation of terrorism in our country is holding the two countries back. We are not going to accept Pakistan carrying out terror acts in our country. We're just not going to accept it. And until they keep doing that, there's going to be problems between us,” Gandhi said.

The Congress MP said “No” when asked if the Kashmir issue is holding the two South Asian nations away from a dialogue.

Responding to a question on the India-US relationship, Gandhi noted that it has bipartisan support in both countries.

“I don't see a big diversion. I don't see Modi diverting very much from our approach with the US. I don't see ourselves changing direction very much from what he's doing. So, I see continuity there,” he said.

He said everyone accepts the fact that the India-US relationship is key for both countries.

Gandhi asserted that he did not want any role of the US in India’s internal affairs. It is for the people of India to decide.

“The fight for democracy in India is an Indian fight. With all due respect, it has nothing to do with anybody else. It's our problem. And we'll take care of it. We will make sure that democracy is secure,” he said.

“However, it's important to understand that Indian democracy is more than just any normal democracy because of its size. If you're talking about a democratic vision of the world, then Indian democracy has a large space in that vision. I think it's important that the world sees Indian democracy as an asset, not just for India, but for the rest of the world. Advising the United States on how they should deal with Modi is not my preserve, it's not my space,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi criticised the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year but said the scale of violence that ensued must stop.

“Look, I think what happened on the 7th of October was absolutely wrong. But, I also think what Israel did and is doing, bombing innocent civilians, and killing women and children, is absolutely wrong and should not be allowed to continue. I'm against violence of any kind. And certainly, the scale of violence, I actually think, is harming Israel. It's harming Israel more than it's helping them,” Gandhi said.

Responding to a question on Bangladesh, Gandhi said: “There are concerns in India about extremist elements in Bangladesh and we share some of those concerns.”

“However, I'm confident that things will stabilise in Bangladesh and that we would be able to have a relationship with the current government or any other government after that,” he said.

Gandhi had a meeting with a group of lawmakers at the US Capitol where the issue was discussed.

“We raised it (Bangladesh), and they also spoke to us. Look, we are against any type of violence. And we want it to stop. And it's the responsibility, frankly, of the Bangladeshi government to stop it as soon as possible. From our side, it's the responsibility of our government to put pressure so that that violence stops,” Gandhi said.

(With PTI inputs)