- A spokesman for the US State Department responded to Rahul Gandhi’s comments.
- Pakistan is our strategic partner, says Ned Price.
- Rahul says Modi’s policies have brought Pakistan and China closer together.
WASHINGTON: The United States has responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments in the Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies have brought Pakistan and China closer together, The news reported citing international media.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price categorically declined to “ratify” such a statement on behalf of Washington, saying “Pakistan is our strategic partner”.
“I will let Pakistanis and the People’s Republic of China speak for themselves about their relationship. These comments will certainly not be endorsed by me,” Price said at a regular news conference.
The US said it valued its relationship with Pakistan but stressed that, as far as Washington is concerned, there was no requirement for other countries to choose between the US and China.
“We have always made it clear that there is no obligation for any country in the world to choose between the United States and China,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters when asked whether Pakistan and China have become closer because “they are in the feeling abandoned’ by the US.
Speaking in Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks for the president’s speech at the parliament’s ongoing budget session on Wednesday, Rahul had said that the incumbent Indian government’s stance on China and Pakistan only served to unite two countries against India.
“India’s main strategic goal was to keep China and Pakistan apart, but what you have done has only brought them together,” Rahul had said, accusing the Modi-led government of committing the biggest crime it has committed against India. could commit.
“The foundation of their (China and Pakistan) plan has been laid in Doklam and Ladakh. This is a serious threat to India. We have made a huge strategic mistake in J&K and our foreign policy,” the Wayanad MP had said.
Shortly after Rahul Gandhi’s speech, Union ministers beat the former congress president. While Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had said Rahul Gandhi needed some “history lessons”, Justice Secretary Kiren Rijiju apologized to the congress leader.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had called Gandhi a “confused and brainless” leader who is nothing but “praise” for China.
