New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy Thursday at the Rachnatmak Congress Organising National Convention in New Delhi, using a mock hug with party leader Sandeep Dikshit to poke fun at Modi’s interactions with foreign leaders.
Gandhi told the gathering he would show what foreign policy meant for Modi. He then stretched out his arms and walked towards Dikshit for a hug.
“I don’t know where he (Modi) got this idea from. Strange ideas get into people’s heads. He thinks this is foreign policy,” Gandhi said. Dikshit then played along, bringing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni into the joke. “You weren’t hugging me thinking I was Meloni?” he said, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Gandhi replied: “I haven’t reached that stage yet.”
The exchange was a reference to Modi’s public interactions with foreign leaders, including Meloni, with whom he shared a viral ‘Melody’ moment.
Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, used the gesture to mock what he portrayed as the Prime Minister’s approach to diplomacy, with the physical act of hugging becoming the central punchline of his attack.
Criticising Gandhi for mocking the Prime Minister in this manner, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared a video of the Congress event with the caption: “Do you think Rahul Gandhi’s mental state is sound?”
Referring to the remark about the Italian Prime Minister, BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar wrote on X: “Targeting Prime Ministers with such cheap language isn’t politics. It is gutter-level behaviour that brings shame to Indian political discourse.”
The moment was followed by a broader criticism of the government’s handling of foreign policy. Gandhi questioned India’s position amid the West Asia war, arguing that the situation presented New Delhi with an opportunity to use its relationships with major powers to broker peace.
“War broke out in Iran. For India, had it recognized its own strength and had its leader been someone like Indira Gandhi, this presented the greatest opportunity in the world. What kind of opportunity? Iran was our old friend, America was our friend, and Russia was our friend. We could have stepped up, become relevant, and leveraged these friendships. But what actually happened? Nothing of the sort. Instead, Pakistan stepped in and took our place; Pakistan became the mediator, while India and Modi-ji simply looked on,” he said.
He then turned his criticism towards the India-China border, specifically referring to Arunachal Pradesh and areas where Indian and Chinese forces carry out border patrols.
Speaking about China, Rahul said, “I receive information directly from Modi ji’s office these days; there is a full-blown revolt going on inside. In our patrolling areas, specifically in Arunachal, China blocked us from patrolling. They essentially said, ‘Look, all that is fine—it is indeed your land—but you cannot patrol here’.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)