NEW DELHI, June 12: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday, in a conversation with former US diplomat Nicholas Burns, said the ‘DNA’ of ‘tolerance’ has disappeared from both the nations.
“I think why our partnership works is because we are tolerant systems. You mentioned you are an immigrant nation. We are a very tolerant nation. Our DNA is supposed to be tolerant. We are supposed to be open but surprisingly that open DNA is disappearing. I say this with sadness that I don’t see the level of tolerance that I used to see. I don’t see it in the United States and I don’t see it in India”, Mr Gandhi said in the interaction, which was organised by the Congress party.
Responding to the Congress leader, Mr Burns, who is currently Professor of Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government, said “an advantage we democracies have, over an authoritarian country like China, is that we can correct ourselves as a self-corrective part of our DNA, India & the US”.
Referring to the current situation, Mr Gandhi said the division is tremendously weakening, but people who do it portray it as the strength of the country.
“When you divide people, you are weakening the structure of the country. But these same people who divide say that they are nationalists”, he added.
Responding to it, Mr Burns said, “that’s what President Trump is all about”.
“He wraps himself in a flag, declares that he alone can fix the problems. I think President Trump in many ways is an authoritarian personality. But in our country, institutions remain strong”, the former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs said and added, “democracies go through trials, we play out our differences, in campaigns or street protests, but at least we can do that”.
Mr Burns also said a challenge both the countries facing is the coming power of authoritarian countries like China and Russia.
“We never want to fight but we want to preserve our way of life and positions in the world. I think the India-US relationship is important for that reason”, he added.
Mr Gandhi, responding that the Indian American community is a real asset for India and an asset for America, “It’s a good bridge to have”, he said.
Mr Buns said India-US military relationship is very strong and added, “But you are right; it can’t be just about that. So my advice would be to keep the doors open to each other and lower the restrictions on the movement of people between the two countries”, he added.
He was responding to Mr Gandhi’s views on changing relationship between the two countries.
Against the background of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown, Mr Gandhi has already interacted with experts like former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, epidemiologist and industrialist Rajiv Bajaj. (AGENCIES)
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