A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi government for “creating two Indias” and “bringing Pakistan and China together”, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said America does not endorse the remarks.
In Parliament on Wednesday, Gandhi blamed the Centre for widening the gap between the rich and the poor and said the President’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament didn’t touch the central challenges facing the country and was a “list of bureaucratic ideas” instead of a strategic vision.
“Ask yourself why you are not able to get a guest on Republic Day. We are completely isolated and surrounded… You have brought Pakistan and China together and this is the single biggest crime you could have committed against the people of India,” Gandhi said.
“The Chinese have a very clear vision of what they want to do. The single biggest strategic goal of India’s foreign policy has been to keep Pakistan and China separate. What you have done is, you have brought them together,” he said.
Asked about ties between Pakistan and China in the context of Gandhi’s comment, Price said he “would not endorse those remarks”.
“I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not – would not endorse those remarks,” Price said, adding countries are not needed to choose between the US and China.
American partnership, however, has a series of advantages, Price said, adding Pakistan is a “strategic partner of the United States”.
“We’ve made the point all along that it is not a requirement for any country around the world to choose between the United States and China. It is our intention to provide choices to countries when it comes to what the relationship with the United States looks like. And we think the partnership with the United States conveys a series of advantages that countries typically would not find when it comes to the sorts of partnerships that – partnerships may be the wrong term – the sorts of relationships that the PRC has sought to have around the world,” he added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday strongly rebutted the Congress leader’s comments in Lok Sabha.
Jaishankar said the presidents of five Central Asian countries who were to come held a virtual summit on January 27. “In Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said we could not get a foreign guest for Republic Day. Those who live in India know we were in the midst of a corona wave,” the external affairs minister tweeted.
“The five Central Asian presidents, who were to come, did hold a virtual summit on January 27. Did Rahul Gandhi miss that as well?” he posed. India invited Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to attend the Republic Day celebrations as chief guests. But they could not attend due to the COVID-19 situation.
The presidents held a virtual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 27. The external affairs minister also slammed Gandhi for his allegations against the government on Pakistan and China.
“Rahul Gandhi alleged in Lok Sabha that it is this government which brought Pakistan and China together. Perhaps, some history lessons are in order: In 1963, Pakistan illegally handed over the Shaksgam valley to China; China built the Karakoram highway through PoK in the 1970s,” Jaishankar said. The external affairs minister said the two countries also had close nuclear collaboration from the 1970s.
“In 2013, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor started. So, ask yourself: were China and Pakistan distant then” he said.
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