Rahul Gandhi’s barbed comment on External Affairs Minister Jaishankar smacks of spite and partisanship
There is nothing wrong in criticising External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar — or for that matter, any other Minister. India is the world’s largest democracy, so no person, however high and mighty, is above criticism. But Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement that Jaishankar “does not understand the China threat†smacks of spite and partisanship; it surely doesn’t hint at the desire for a healthy, meaningful criticism on foreign policy. Whatever else may be said about Jaishankar, a career diplomat, he can’t be accused of ignorance about the threat the dragon poses. Talking to the Indian Journalists’ Association in London, Gandhi also contradicted himself when he said that he supports “Indian foreign policy and I am okay with it.
I don’t have a huge disagreement with it.†How can Gandhi support a policy, and yet accuse the Minister in charge of executing it of ignorance on an important aspect of it? Gandhi claims that China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) “invaded†us and took “2,000 square km of our territory,†but Prime Minister Narendra Modi “stated that nobody has entered India, not a single inch of land has been taken.†This, Gandhi said, has “destroyed our negotiation position because our negotiators are being asked what’s the fuss about.†But China’s nefarious designs are well known, as also its intentions to keep the Line of Actual Control hot. Its Galwan perfidy in June 2020 is remembered by all in our country—the powers that be as well as people.
So, what should India do that it is not doing? Gandhi doesn’t answer that question; one reason is that, as he himself said, he is “okay with†Indian foreign policy. Specifically, what change would he like to make in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad? It is a loose strategic alliance of four powerful democracies—the US, Japan, Australia, and India. From the perspective of the Chinese Communist Party, ‘Quad’ is a four-letter word; Beijing fears and hates it. CCP bosses dread the prospect of Quad becoming a military or security alliance. In September 2021, the then foreign secretary Harsh Shringla made it clear that the Quad was not a security alliance. Referring to AUKUS—the security alliance between Australia, the UK, and the US—he said, “Let me make it clear that the Quad and the AUKUS are not groupings of a similar nature.â€
The Quad is a “plurilateral grouping of countries with a shared vision of their attributes and values,†whereas “AUKUS is a security alliance between three countries. We are not party to this alliance. From our perspective, this is neither relevant to the Quad nor will it have any impact on its functioning.†Would Rahul Gandhi like this to change? He or any other Congress leader has not said such a thing; and, given the influence of Nehruvian thinking in and past anti-Americanism of the grand old party, it is unlikely he would suggest such a thing. So, why does he say such things? And that too on foreign soil?
