Where’s the DNA of tolerance that India-US shared?: Rahul
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (June 12) said the strain of tolerance that India and the US shared in the past has vanished in the current world.
In an online conversation with former US diplomat Nicholas Burns on Friday (June 12), the Congress leader said while both the countries earlier shared a relationship in education, defence and healthcare among others, today it has been limited to defence.
“I think why our partnership works is because we are tolerant systems. You mentioned you are an immigrant nation. We are a very tolerant nation. Our DNA is supposed to be tolerant,” he said.
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Accusing the Centre of taking unilateral decisions in the midst of the crisis, he hoped that the country will unite against it.
“We are fighting it. And I am hopeful because I understand the DNA of my country. And I know that for thousands of years, the DNA of my country has been of one type, it can’t be changed. We are going through a bad patch. COVID-19 is a horrible time, but I see new ideas emerging after the crisis. I already see people cooperating much more than they were before. They now realise that there are advantages of being unified,” he told Burns.
When asked how global politics will change after COVID-19, Burns said the pandemic will teach nations to work with one another and set aside rivalries on issues like climate change.
“Of course, we are going to compete- China and the United States, India and the United States – but we need to preserve space and we can work together on behalf of individual people,” said Burns, who is a professor of Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
Stating that there will be more pandemics in the coming years, Burns said the best that governments can do now is to support people and overcome the challenge of having to work with one another as a global community.
Taking a dig at China, with whom the US is at loggerheads over information of coronavirus spread, he said despite making economic strides, the country still lacks sophistication of a democracy.
“China is making strides, there is no doubt about that, but what it lacks is the sophistication and openness of a democratic country like India or the United States. China is a fearful leadership. Fearful men, trying to preserve their own power, increasing the grip that they have on their citizens. See what is happening in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. So I am hopeful of the future of India and the United States,” he said.
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Rahul’s talk with Burns is part of his video chats with experts on the political situation and state of the Indian economy. He had earlier spoken to former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, epidemiologist Johann Giesceke and industrialist Rajiv Bajaj.
