Congress leader Rahul Gandhi backs Modi government's stance on Russia-Ukraine war

Suspended Indian lawmaker and top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine. Speaking during his ongoing US tour, the beleaguered dynast of the Indian opposition party said that he would have responded to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine quite similarly.

India has called for the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that this "is not an era of war". At the same time, unlike the West and countries in the Indo-Pacific, New Delhi has avoided an open and explicit deploring of the Russian actions in Ukraine.

"We have a relationship with Russia. We have had a relationship with Russia. We have certain dependencies on them," Rahul Gandhi said at Washington's National Press Club on June 1. "So I would have a very similar stance as the government of India. At the end of the day, we have to also look out for our interests."

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In March, India was described by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as the only country with which Moscow shares a "special and privileged strategic partnership", a relationship cultivated over decades when the persons from Rahul Gandhi's family occupied the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi.

As the world's largest arms importer, India depends on Russia for nearly half its military supplies, and has bought fighter jets, tanks, nuclear submarines and an aircraft carrier over the decades.

Rahul Gandhi also stressed that the relations between India and the United States were important. "It’s important to have a defence relationship. But I think we need to also consider other areas (of cooperation)," he said.

Rahul Gandhi also said that there is a "hidden undercurrent" across India which will "surprise" the world in terms of the upcoming national elections in 2024.

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While referring to the current status of opposition unity, Rahul said: "The opposition is pretty well united, and it’s getting more andmore united."

"We are having conversations with all the Opposition (parties). I think quite a lot of good work is happening there," he said.

"It’s a complicated discussion because there are spaces where we are competing with the Opposition. So a bit of give and take is required. But I am confident that it (a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP at the Centre) will happen."

The former Congress president expressed confidence that his party's electoral fortunes would rise in the immediate future.

"I think the Congress party will do very well in the next two years. I think it will," the former Member of Parliament said.

"Wait and watch the next three or four state elections... which is a better indicator of what is going to happen," he said, while referring to the state elections in a number of states scheduled for later this year.

Rahul Gandhi is on a six-day visit to the United States.

After two days in California's Bay Area, he is currently in Washington DC to engage with think tank communities and the press in the US capital on Thursday.

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