India’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, said he believes that India-China relations will stay predictably tense for the next few years.
On China
During a Stanford University event in California on Wednesday, the leader of the Indian National Congress Party said that relations between Beijing and New Delhi will be “tough” over the next five to ten years.
Gandhi, who is currently on a three-city US tour, made the remarks when asked about his views on how he sees the India-China relationship evolving in the coming years.
Deep & insightful interaction between @rahulgandhi & top global affairs experts in Washington DC about India-US relationship, China & the future global order.#RGinUS #RahulGandhiInUSA pic.twitter.com/fR8mRj1nol
— Praveen Chakravarty (@pravchak) June 2, 2023
“It’s tough right now. I mean, they’ve occupied some of our territory. It’s rough. It’s not too easy (a relationship),” he said. The leader further added that “India cannot be pushed around. That is something that is not going to happen.”
Gandhi’s comments come after his criticism of India’s foreign policy on China on several occasions. During a conversation with the members of the Indian Journalists’ Association in London in March, the Congress leader said that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar “does not understand the China threat.” He added that PM Narendra Modi’s statement “nobody has entered Indian territory” is a message to the Chinese that they can do it again.
China has occupied our territory, and it's an accepted fact. They have occupied 1500 sq km of land, and it is absolutely unacceptable. However, PM Modi believes otherwise.
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 1, 2023
: Shri @RahulGandhi
📍National Press Club, Washington DC, USA pic.twitter.com/jjtiGEyvaM
On Russia
At the same event, the opposition leader also supported the Modi government’s policy of maintaining its relationship with Russia in the context of the Ukrainian war, despite pressure against it from the West.
“We have a relationship with Russia, we have certain dependencies on Russia. So, I would have a similar stance as the Government of India,” he said in response to whether he supports India’s neutral stance on Russia.
“At the end of the day, India has to look for its own interest. India is a big enough country whereby it generally will have relationships with other countries. It’s not so small and dependent that it will have a relationship with one and nobody else,” he stressed.
“We will always have these types of relationships. We will have better relationships with some people, evolving relationships with other people. So that balance is there,” Gandhi said.