Congress leader Rahul Gandhi backed the BJP government at the centre in its stance on the Russian war in Ukraine, in what was a rare endorsement.
Speaking to journalists at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday evening in the US, Gandhi said when asked about India's stance on the issue, “We have a relationship with Russia. We have had a relationship with Russia. We have certain dependencies on them. So I would have a very similar stance as the government of India…At the end of the day, we have to also look out for our interests.”
Gandhi opined that the democratic world had failed to come up with a vision to counter the non-democratic vision of China, and called for a new system of production and manufacturing where India and the US can work together.
Gandhi is on a six-day visit to the US. He is in Washington DC after spending two days in San Francisco and the Bay Area, to engage with the think tank community, diaspora, and press in the US capital on Thursday.
Disqualification shock
The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad constituency said he never imagined he is disqualified from Parliament. “To be the first person to get a full sentence on defamation, to get a maximum sentence, to be disqualified from Parliament. I didn’t imagine that something like this was possible.” He added that his disqualification has given him a “huge opportunity” than he would have had in Parliament.
The Congress leader was disqualified from Lok Sabha earlier this year. He was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark.
Ukraine-Russia Crisis: India's Stance
The Indian government has abstained from the UN resolutions on Ukraine and consistently underlined the need to respect the UN Charter, international law, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
India, however, has also consistently underlined that in the ongoing conflict, the entire Global South has suffered 'substantial collateral damage' and that the developing countries are facing the brunt of the conflict's consequences on food, fuel, and fertilizer supplies.
(With inputs from agencies)
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