China's clout on the rise globally, but lacks sophistication, ex-US diplomat tells Rahul Gandhi

China’s influence in world affairs is growing in the times of COVID-19 outbreak, but it lacks the sophistication and openness of democracies such as India and the US, former American diplomat Nicholas Burns told Rahul Gandhi.

Burns, who played a key role in negotiating the India-US civil nuclear deal, also rued the absence of a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to the “unilateralist” approach of US President Donald Trump.

“You know, this crisis was made for the G20. It was made for Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to be working together…. It hasn’t happened,” the former US diplomat said in a conversation with the former Congress President.

Rahul concurred with Burns and added that the friction between Germany, Italy and the UK had accelerated the COVID-19 crisis.

Follow live updates on coronavirus here

“Mainly because Donald Trump doesn't really believe in international cooperation. He's a unilateralist. He wants America to go it alone in the world...I hope when the next crisis comes, we will do better to work together in a more effective way,” Burns, a career diplomat who also led negotiations on the Iran nuclear program, said.

He added that China had a “fearful” leadership trying to increase their power and strengthen the grip over their own citizens.

“Look what's happening in Xinxiang and the Uighurs and in Hong Kong ... I worry the Chinese system is not going to be flexible enough to accommodate the desires of the Chinese people for human freedom and liberty,” Burns said.

Bringing in the Indian perspective, Rahul said the India-US partnership worked because tolerance was embedded in the DNA of the respective countries, which has been missing in current times.

“We were supposed to accept new ideas. We were supposed to be open, but the surprising thing is that DNA, that open DNA, is sort of disappearing. I mean, I say this with sadness that I don't see that level of tolerance that I used to see. I don't see it in the United States and I don't see it in India,” the former Congress President said referring to the death of George Floyd in police custody in the US.

Rahul noted that the India-US relationship, which used to be a partnership earlier, now seemed to have become “very transactional”, “episodic” and focused mainly on defence.