Ex-US official reacts to Rahul Gandhi, says leaders must prioritise Indian values

Washington: Raymond Vickery, a former senior US government official has reacted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in Colombia that democracy is under siege in India, saying that Indian leaders, irrespective of party affiliations, should speak in favour of Indian values and its interests.

In an interview with IANS, Vickery said the bipartisan system of speaking on common values has broken down both in the United States and India.

“I would rather [hope] Indian leaders on both sides of the political divide speak out in favour of Indian values and including those in the interests of India. We tried to present the values of the United States internationally as leaders of the free world. And that was bipartisan, that was Republicans and Democrats alike, that has broken down in the United States, and I’m afraid it’s breaking down in India as well,” he added.

He advised that all political leaders should have a broader outlook about national priorities.

“It would be very helpful if you can have that broader outlook that’s expressed across the board, and I would hope that India would step up in that regard, and whether you’re in the opposition or in government, that would be the orientation,” he noted.

On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp critique of the Narendra Modi government, warning that the biggest threat facing India today is a systematic attack on its democratic foundations.

Addressing a packed auditorium during an interaction with students at EIA University in Colombia’s Envigado, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said that India’s strength lies in its diversity—its multitude of religions, languages, and traditions—and that democracy is the only system capable of giving space to all these voices.

But that system, he claimed, is under siege.

Gandhi described India as a complex and decentralised nation, fundamentally different from China’s centralised and uniform structure. He argued that India’s design cannot accommodate authoritarianism and that attempts to suppress its people would ultimately fail.

“India is a conversation between all its people,” he said, adding that the democratic framework is essential to allow different traditions and ideas to flourish.

–IANS