Amid the border standoff with China, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not handled the situation well and added that he sees no reason for Chinese troops sitting in the “Indian” territory.

In his maiden interaction with the media after taking over as the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, at the National Press Club, Washington DC in US, he said, “We’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh, and I think that’s a disaster.”

“The media doesn’t like to write about it. How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 square kilometers of its territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying he has handled that well? So, I don’t think Mr Modi has handled China well at all. I see no reason why Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory,” Gandhi said.

Notably, India and China have been holding rounds of military-level talks to end the ongoing stand-off at eastern Ladakh.

Referring to China, he said, “The central question is, how do you challenge China on production and value addition? China’s strength comes from that. China has a strong military, which stems from its ability to produce. It thrives because Americans are buying Chinese products, and Indians are buying Chinese products. So, what are we going to do about it? We can’t continue on this trajectory.”

“We simply can’t move forward without building a manufacturing base, without involving large numbers of our people, and creating jobs for them. We are not like Singapore, where we can focus on services and expect everything to be fine. With billions of people in our country, it’s not feasible. We need a solution, and that solution will come only from production,” Gandhi said.

Asserting that India is a very plural country, without naming anyone, he said, “India is not just one idea, India is multiple ideas. When you imagine yourself to be something you are not, that’s when all your strategic problems begin.”

In a veiled attack on the ruling BJP, Gandhi said, “We are weakening our biggest strategic asset: India’s democracy. It’s not just India’s asset; it’s a global asset because it’s so significant. It’s a global public good. It’s being attacked in India. The Indian democracy has been under attack over the past ten years and has been greatly weakened, but now it’s fighting back. I am confident it will fight back.”

“We feel very strongly that there is a very deep problem with participation, and we are going to address that problem. We want a comprehensive understanding of what’s going on and then apply a series of policies to correct it, with reservations being one of them,” he said.

On reservation, Gandhi said, “Somebody misquoted me as saying I am against reservations. We are going to increase reservations beyond 50 per cent. I have been repeatedly stating this and have never been against reservations.”

Slamming Pakistan, the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House said, “Pakistan’s instigation of terrorism in our country is holding the two countries back. We are not going to accept Pakistan carrying out attacks on our country. We are just not going to accept it, and as long as they continue doing that, there will be problems between us.”

On the Bangladesh situation, he said, “I am confident that things will stabilise in Bangladesh, and we will be able to have a relationship with the current government or any other government that follows. We are against any type of violence and want it to stop.”

“It is the responsibility of the Bangladeshi government to end it as soon as possible. From our side, it is the responsibility of our government to apply pressure so that the violence stops,” he added.