LONDON: Rahul Gandhi has added his voice to claims that the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on Pakistan earlier in the year, saying his party supports such action “100 percent”.
Pakistan rubbished the claim when it was originally made and duly warned international organisations, including the United Nations, that the responsibility for the “escalating crisis” would rest with New Delhi.
Talking candidly to a select group representing international governments, the business community, academia and media at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr Gandhi persisted with his tendency to make controversial remarks when faced with questions requiring diplomatic sobriety.
Following his recent remarks about the reasons behind the creation of ISIS, made at Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, which left riled many in India, the Nehru dynasty scion has now encroached on a domain traditionally occupied by militant Bharatiya Janata Party politicians by discussing India’s western neighbour.
He had angered many BJP supporters by saying: “It is very dangerous in the 21st century to exclude people… If you don't give people a vision in the 21st century, somebody else will. And that's the real risk of excluding a large number of people from the development process." Hindu nationalists took these remarks as a direct accusation against the ruling BJP for excluding tribals, Dalits and minorities from the development narrative.