Security in the present times has become a holistic thing, Rahul Gandhi stressed during his conversation with actor-politician Kamal Haasan, days after the two were seen together in Delhi leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra. “You can get attacked from inside. You can face cyberattacks. So in 21st century, one has to have a global view. And that’s where the government has completely gone and miscalculated,” Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying in a video of the one-on-one conversation between the two leaders. “We constantly hear about what is going on in the border. And the fact of the matter is China has taken about 2,000 km of our territory. Frankly we have not said anything. The military has said they are sitting in our territory. The Prime Minister has said nobody has come. This sends a very clear message to China… and the message is: ‘We can do what we want, and India will not respond, right?'” During the conversation, he also insisted that the channels of communication between the opposition and the government should remain open.
Further, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Kamal Haasan called the approach “whistling in the dark”, Rahul Gandhi said: “Imagine you’re the leader of the country. And your forces are saying that they’re in our territory but you’re denying it… so how does it make your country look? This is the first aspect. The second aspect of it is earlier you fought on a border, and now you fight everywhere.”
“The point is not going to a war but being a position where you can’t be attacked. And there’s a link between a nation with a weak economy, and the Chinese sitting in our territory because they see the country dealing with internal matters, internal confusion, and they can do whatever they want.”
Drawing comparison between the Ukraine-Russia tensions, and stressing that Kyiv’s “strong relations with the west” was one of the strongest contention points for Kremlin, he further insisted: “This is what is happening with China. They have been trying to say – ‘Be careful of what you do’ because we will enter your geography. We will enter your space’.”
He also stressed that India does not need the help from the West “to take on Chinese”. Rahul Gandhi has – on multiple occassions prior to this – raised the China issue, attacking the government.
When he spoke about the December 9 India-China troops clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) recently, his use of word pitai (beating) drew criticism and objection from BJP leaders.