Oppn backs India's position on Russia-Ukraine: Rahul Gandhi

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a visit to Europe, said here on Friday that the party's stand on Article 370 was very clear and it also wants to ensure that every voice in the country is heard, with people being allowed to express themselves freely.

He also backed the Indian government stand of the Russia and Ukraine war and said the opposition by and large would agree with the government position.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club in the Belgian capital, Rahul Gandhi said: "Our position on Article 370 is very clear. It's in a resolution passed in the CWC. We are for ensuring that every single person in our country has a voice, and is allowed to express themselves. We feel very strongly that Kashmir should develop, Kashmir should progress, and there should be peace in Kashmir."

He was responding to a question about Article 370 and restrictions imposed on opposition leaders in the union territory in 2019.

When asked about the India's relationship with Russia and the US, the senior Congress leader said: "I mean, India of course has a relationship with Russia and India has a relationship with the US. India is a large country and it will have relationship with many countries. That is a normal thing and India has every right to have relationship with whoever it wants."

He said that there were "serious issues about the type of actions that are being taken in with regard to institution and democracy."

"There is a sense that there are underlined issues."

When asked about the opposition's point of view of the Russia-Ukraine war, Rahul Gandhi said: "I think the opposition by and large would agree with the government position. We have a relationship with Russia. And I don't think the opposition will have a different view of what the government is currently proposing."

He also said that he has been travelling abroad to meet different people both from Europe and from the Indian diaspora and he has been doing it regularly now.

"We have gone to the US and UK and now we have come to the European Union to get a sense of what is happening here and back home.

"It's more of a conversation than a message. I am no one to come and give a message to Europeans. It's an exchange of ideas what is going on in India and what is going on here. The type of cooperation we can do. It’s more of a conversation.

"We discussed with the parliamentarians across the board, the relationship between India and Europe and the change in the globe and transition into a new sort of energy paradigm and new mobility paradigm. That was very fruitful.

"We were giving them a sense of the type of challenges India is facing, economic challenges, other challenges. The general sort of attack on the democratic institutions that was discussed," Rahul Gandhi added.

Rahul Gandhi alleged that there was an attempt to change the future of the country.

"There is an increase in discrimination and violence in India and there is full scale assault in India. There is an alternative vision that is the BJP's vision. They believe power should be centralised, wealth needs to be concentrated and the conversation between the people of India should be suppressed," he said.

The Congress leader said for him it was a battle between two visions, which he termed as Mahatma Gandhi's vision and Nathuram Godse's vision.

He also asserted that there is something really wrong with India’s economic model and it’s not accepted as the unemployment and inflation is on rise.

Discussing what the youths told him during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress leader said they told me three things unemployment, huge increase in the level of poverty and completely skewed income distribution so few people getting wealthy and bulk of people pushed into poverty and those were the three things repeatedly they told me.

“The fact of the matter is that the India is the highest unemployment in last 40 years. Something is really wrong with our economic model and it’s not accepted. But I don’t think that the current path we are on is sustainable in anyway. There will be a certainly consequences and backlash from this model,” he said.

To another question, the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Wayanad said: "I don't think, the G20 is an important conversation and it is a good thing that India is hosting. Of course there are issues in India that we raise. I think framing that are they giving them free passage is not exactly correct."

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Brussels on September 6 and he will visiting some other nations like France, the Netherlands and Norway till September 11 and participate in several interactive programmes and also meet businessmen and diaspora.

India vs Bharat row a panic reaction: Rahul Gandhi

Dubbing the India vs Bharat controversy a "distraction tactic" and a "panic reaction", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the government is little scared and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "disturbed" to the extent that he wants to change the country's name which is “absurd”.

Addressing a press conference here, Rahul Gandhi, who is on a week-long Europe visit, said: "I am happy with the
names that we have in the Constitution. ‘India that is Bharat’ works perfectly for me. I think these are panic reactions, there is a little bit of fear in the government and it is a distraction tactic.”

He said that the opposition parties came out with the name INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) for "our coalition and it's a fantastic idea as it represents who we are".

"We consider ourselves the voice of India so the word works very well for us. But it actually disturbs the Prime Minister very much that he wants to change the name of the country which is absurd. But that's what it is," he said.

While discussing Manipur violence he said that his party is very much for democratic rights and peace and the democratic and institutions are under attack in the country.

Rahul Gandhi said, "Our position on Manipur was very clear and I actually visited Manipur and I think we are very much for democratic rights, harmony, peace between people."

"And as Sam Pitroda said I walked for over 4,100 kms (during Bharat Jodo Yatra) for that very purpose (unity and peace) and I think that there is a sense in India that the democratic structures of the country and the institutional structures of the country are under attack from the group of people running India. I don’t think this point is missed by anybody, I think anybody who has knowledge of India knows this," he said, adding that of course there are other considerations, when you are dealing with India these days as you will be well aware.

“The democratic fight and the fight for democracy in India is ours and its our responsibility and we will take care of it and we will make sure that the sort of onslaught on our institutions and our freedom is stopped and the opposition will make sure that it happens,” he said in response to a question that he raised the Manipur issue here.

He held a roundtable meeting with the Members of the European Union (MEP) to discuss the human rights situation in Manipur. The meeting was not on the official agenda, so it was held behind closed doors.

According to sources, the meeting went well and Rahul Gandhi was able to raise the issue of human rights in Manipur with the MEPs. The MEPs were reportedly concerned about the situation and expressed their support for the people of the state.

To another question on Kashmir and the role of international diplomacy, the Congress leader said, "Kashmir is an integral part of India so it's nobody's business other than India's."

"Our position is very clear and even in a resolution of the CWC we have mentioned it. But I feel that democratic structures and institutions need to be protected and the voice of people need to be protected and defended and that goes across India including Kashmir," Rahul Gandhi said.

When asked about Pegasus and if he was still being spied on, he said, "I mean the fact that Pegasus was on my phone is a known fact. I don't know the details of how I am tracked but I am tracked, I am certainly sure."

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Brussels on September 6 and will visit some other nations like France, Netherlands and Norway till September 11 and participate in several interactive programmes and also meet businessmen and
diaspora.

He is scheduled to return on September 12 after wrapping up his visit.