Cake-cutting diplomacy: LoP Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over ‘surrender’ to China, US trade tariffs

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that China had taken over 4,000 square kilometre of Indian territory and that reciprocal tariffs or import duties imposed by the US would "completely devastate" the Indian economy, as he demanded answers from the government over these issues.

Speaking during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi slammed the government over the celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between India and China.

"China is sitting on 4,000 square kilometre of our territory. I was shocked some time back to see that our foreign secretary (Vikram Misri) was cutting a cake with the Chinese ambassador. The question is -- what exactly is happening to this territory of 4,000 sq km that China has taken?" the former Congress president said.

Referring to the Galwan incident, Gandhi said 20 jawans were martyred in 2020. "There is a celebration taking place over their martyrdom by cutting a cake. We are not against normalcy, but there should be a status quo before that. We should get our land back. It has also come to my notice that the President and the Prime Minister have written to the Chinese," he said.

"We are not finding this out from our own people, it is the Chinese ambassador who is telling the people of India that the PM and the President have written to them," Gandhi said.

He said foreign policy is about managing the external countries and pointed out that on one hand, "you have given China 4,000 sq km of our land", and on the other hand, our ally US, has suddenly decided to impose tariffs on us.

He said the tariffs imposed by the US are going to "completely devastate" the Indian economy, particularly sectors like the auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture.

"Somebody once asked Indira Gandhi ji-- 'In the matter of foreign policy, you lean left or you lean right', and Indira Gandhi ji answered 'I don't lean left or right, I stand straight. I am Indian and I stand straight'. 

"The BJP and the RSS have a different philosophy when they are asked whether they lean left or the right, they say 'no, no, no, we bow our head in front of every foreigner that comes in front of us. This is something that is in their culture, in their history, we know that," Gandhi said.

He said the government of India must give answers as to "what it is doing about our land and about these tariffs that our ally has imposed on us". The US has announced 27 percent reciprocal tariffs on India, saying New Delhi imposes high import duties on American goods.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)