Now Reading: Rahul Gandhi mocks Modi’s ‘hugplomacy’, BJP hits back
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Rahul Gandhi mocks Modi’s ‘hugplomacy’, BJP hits back
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy as 'all about hugging leaders' and hugged Congress colleague Sandeep Dikshit to demonstrate. Dikshit then asked Gandhi…
The Story in Brief
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy as 'all about hugging leaders' and hugged Congress colleague Sandeep Dikshit to demonstrate. Dikshit then asked Gandhi if he hugged him 'thinking he was Meloni' (Italian PM Georgia Meloni), to which Gandhi replied 'I have not reached there yet'. The exchange sparked a BJP backlash, with Union minister Pralhad Joshi calling Gandhi 'immature' and his language 'indecent'. Gandhi also labelled the BJP-RSS a 'bunch of jokers'. He separately alleged that China has stopped Indian troops from patrolling in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, a claim the government has not commented on.
The Indian Opinion
This row is a classic case of both sides feeding each other. The BJP is right to call out the Meloni reference as crass, but conflating it with a critique of foreign policy substance is dishonest. Rahul Gandhi, however, loses credibility when a serious point about diplomacy is drowned in schoolyard theatrics. Instead of trading insults, let's see if the government responds substantively to his claim that China has stopped Indian patrols in Arunachal Pradesh.
Sources (4): hindustantimes.com, ndtv.com, rediff.com, thefederal.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
