Rahul Gandhi speech today: Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Centre, alleging that India’s dependence on Chinese products is a major national security concern. He linked the failure of the ‘Make in India’ initiative to the presence of Chinese forces inside Indian territory.
“Our Chief of Army Staff has said the Chinese are inside our territory. This is a fact. The reason China is inside our territory is important… The reason China is sitting inside this country is because ‘Make in India’ has failed. The reason China is sitting inside this country is because India is refusing to produce, and I am worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again,” Rahul Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha while participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address on January 31.
Highlighting concerns over India’s defence preparedness, he warned that in case of a conflict, the country would be reliant on Chinese-made components. “If and when we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese electric motors, Chinese batteries and Chinese optics, and we will be buying Chinese motors, Chinese optics and Chinese batteries,” the Congress leader said while objections from MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Also Read | S Jaishankar slams Rahul Gandhi over ‘Trump coronation invite’ claim: ‘Spoke a falsehood’
Rahul Gandhi also stressed the need to strengthen India’s strategic partnership with the United States to build a robust industrial base. “We have a strategic partner called the United States. The partnership should focus on how India and the United States can work together to take advantage of this revolution. India is as important as the US for the simple reason that they cannot build an industrial system without us. The Americans simply cannot do what India can do because their cost structure is much more expensive than ours. We can build things that the Americans would never imagine…” he said.
President’s address same laundry list of things govt has done: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi said the address of the President to the two Houses was similar to the one made last year, and claimed that it was the same “laundry list” of things the government has done.
The Congress leader said successive governments, be it the UPA or the present NDA, have not been able to tackle unemployment and give a clear-cut answer to youth about employment.
He also said ‘Make in India’ was a good idea, but the prime minister “pretty much failed”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House.
While talking of the Congress’s vision of a president’s address, Gandhi said “we would not send our foreign minister to the United States to get our prime minister invited to the US President’s ‘coronation”.
Hitting back, Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju asked Rahul Gandhi to substantiate his claims on the government’s foreign policy.
“You cannot make such unsubstantiated claims,” he said.
“I heard the President’s address. I must say I struggled through the President’s address to maintain my attention on what was being said, because I’ve heard pretty much the same address before — it’s the same list of things that the government has done,” he said in the Lok Sabha.
Gandhi said he is being critical about what is being said, and this is not the type of the President’s address he expected.
(With inputs from agencies)
