PM Modi's 'indiscretions' weakened India, left it vulnerable: Rahul Gandhi on border standoff

Disruptions in India’s relationships with the world and a weak economy under the Modi government gave China the confidence to transgress into Indian territory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.

In a short video, the former Congress President explained the reasons for Chinese intrusions in eastern Ladakh which led to a violent face-off leading to the killing of 20 Indian soldiers along the Line of Actual Control last month.

"Since 2014, the PM's constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. Empty words don't suffice in the world of geopolitics," he said in a tweet along with the video message.

“Today, you have a country which is economically in trouble, in trouble as far as foreign policy is concerned, in trouble with its neighbours and that is why the Chinese have decided that this is possibly the best time to act,” Rahul said.

The 3.38 minute video is Rahul’s attempt to de-mystify complex issues covering current affairs, history, philosophy, economics, politics for everyone.

Congress hopes that the brief videos would help sharing the message on social networking platforms such as WhatsApp.

The release of the first video, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was delayed as the political crisis in Rajasthan assumed centre-stage and the party had to indulge in a massive fire-fighting exercise to save its government in the state.

Rahul said that the countries were protected not in a particular way, but by a confluence of systems of foreign relationships, neighbourhood, economy and the feeling and vision of its people.

“And what has happened over the last six years that all those areas that India has been disturbed and disrupted,” he said

“Our relationship with the outside world used to be with multiple countries. We had a relationship with the US, strategic partnership with the US, I will say and that is very important. We had relationships with Russia and Europe and these countries used to manoeuvre in the world,” Rahul said.

The former Congress President said India’s relationship with the world has now become transactional and it has also angered neighbours who looked towards it as a partner.

Gandhi said one has to go into multiple spaces, including India's economy and ties with neighbours and other countries, to understand why the Chinese chose this particular time to move against India and violate the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and what gave them the confidence to turn so aggressive.

"Today, you have a country which is economically in trouble; in trouble as far as foreign policy is concerned; in trouble with its neighbours; and that's why the Chinese have decided that this is possibly the best time to act and that is why they have acted," he alleged.

Noting that countries are protected by a "confluence of forces and systems", he said, "a country is protected by its foreign relationships, it is protected by its neighbourhood, by its economy, by the feeling that its people have and the vision that its people have."

Gandhi has attacked the prime minister and the government over the India-China border conflict in Ladakh in the past as well and alleged their "failure" in handling the issue.

Hitting back at Gandhi, the BJP said he was trying to "divide the nation" and "demoralise" the country's armed forces by questioning the handling of the border situation.

On India's foreign policy, Gandhi said the country had relationships with multiple countries and it used to share a strategic partnership with the US.

India also had a relationship with Russia and Europe and they used to help it manoeuvre in the world, he said.

"Today...we have a transactional relationship with the United States. We have disturbed our relationship with the Russians. We have a transactional relationship with Europe," he alleged.

He claimed that in the neighbourhood, all countries, other than Pakistan, had been working with India and partnered with it in the past.

Gandhi alleged that today Nepalese are angry, Sri Lankans have given a port to the Chinese, the Maldives is disturbed and so is Bhutan. "So we have disrupted our foreign partners, we've disrupted our neighbourhood," he alleged.

On the economic front, he said, the economy was India's pride and it used to go to the rest of the world and boast about it. "But, India has seen the worst economic growth in 50 years and there is no end in sight," he said.

Alleging that unemployment rate was the highest in 40-50 years, he said, "Our strengths have suddenly become our weaknesses."

"We told the government that look, please realise that we are becoming vulnerable. All these things are connected, they're not separate," he said.

Congress wanted money to be injected into the economy and protection for small and medium businesses, "but, they (government) refused to do it," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)