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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JUNE 09, 2023 | The Indian Eye 17

Rahul Gandhi participates in an interaction at Hudson Institute Rahul Gandhi with students at Stanford University Campus
in Washington DC on Thursday (ANI) in California on Thursday (ANI)

united”. see it too. Press freedom is very crit- press” back home. nalists during a free-wheeling con-
Putting forth his point of view ical for a democracy. One should be But in a rare endorsement of a versation at the National Press Club
on a range of issues during a conver- open to criticism. There is a clamp- position taken by the Union govern- in Washington on Thursday.
sation at the National Press Club in down on the institutional framework ment under the leadership of Prime Responding to a question, the
Washington DC, Rahul said his party that allowed India to talk and Indian Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Congress leader stressed the signif-
was in touch with fellow Opposition people to negotiate. I view India as leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday icance of India’s bilateral ties with
forces. Responding to ANI’s ques- a negotiation between its people, be- backed the BJP’s stance on the Rus- Russia, which goes back decades.
tion on Opposition unity, Rahul said tween different cultures, languages sia-Ukraine conflict, saying he would “I would respond (to Russia)
his party was holding regular dia- and histories. Mahatma Gandhi set respond similarly to the issue. similarly to what the BJP did. We
logue with all the Opposition parties, up the framework to enable that ne- Rahul made the remark while (Congress) would be responding in
adding that “quite a lot of good work gotiation fairly and freely. That struc- putting forth his view on how the a similar way (to the Russia-Ukraine
is happening” in that regard. ture, which allows this negotiation, is Congress would assess India’s bilat- conflict). Because India has that sort
“The opposition is pretty well coming under pressure,” Rahul said. eral ties with Russia in light of the on- of relationship with Russia and that
united, and it’s getting more & more He alleged further that was a going military conflict with Ukraine. can’t be denied. Our policy would be
united. We are having conversations “definite capture of institutions and He was fielding questions from jour- similar,” said Rahul.
with all the Opposition (parties).
I think quite a lot of good work is
happening there. It’s a complicated
discussion because there are spac-
es where we are competing with the
Opposition. So, a bit of give and take
is required. But I am confident that it
(a grand Opposition alliance against
the BJP at the Centre) will happen,”
Rahul said.
Weighing in on issues concern-
ing national politics during an inter-
action with journalists at the Nation-
al Press Club in Washington DC on
Thursday, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi claimed that press freedom
was under threat back home in India
and the world could see the same.
Opening up on the issue during
a free-wheeling conversation with
scribes in the US capital, Rahul
said press freedom is very critical
for a functional democracy and one
should be open to criticism. He al-
leged that there was a clampdown on
the institutional framework, which
enabled the national discourse.
“There is definitely a weakening of
press freedom in India. It is apparent The Congress leader Rahul addresses a Stanford University gathering (ANI)
in India and the rest of the world can

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