NEW DELHI: “India’s border problems with China are connected to what is going on internally within India,” said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in an interaction with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan.
In a video released by the Congress MP on Monday, the two discussed a range of issues, including the India-China conflict, the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Tamil Nadu politics. Haasan had joined Bharat Jodo Yatra
during its Delhi leg on December 24 last year.
Responding to Haasan’s query on his opinion on the current stand-off with China, Gandhi said that the Modi government has miscalculated the Chinese threat. “In the 21st century, one has to have a global view about security, and that’s where I think our government has miscalculated. We constantly hear about what’s going on at the border, and the fact of the matter is China has taken 2,000 sq km of our territory. And, we haven’t said anything. The military has clearly said that they are sitting in our territory, but the Prime Minister says that nobody has come. This sends a very clear message to China — ‘we can do whatever we want, and India will not respond’,” he said.
In the half-an-hour-long conversation, the former Congress president said that the Chinese aggression is directly linked to the internal turmoil within India. “There is a link between a weak economy, a confused nation without vision, hatred and anger, and the Chinese sitting in our territory. Because they know that we are dealing with internal confusions and lack of harmony, so they can just go in and do whatever they want,” he said.
He also spoke at length about how Bharat Jodo Yatra is trying to spread the message of communal harmony. “The single most important thing in the 21st century is that the country should have internal cohesion. That there’s harmony in the country that people are not fighting, there’s peace in the country, and the country has a vision. The point is not going to war, the point is being in a position where you cannot be attacked,” he said.
Comparing the Chinese with Russia’s war with Ukraine, Gandhi said that China is adopting the same strategy with India. Talking about the might of the young population in India, he said that India can take on China in the future if it emerges as a production nation.