Job creation, intolerance plague India: Rahul Gandhi at Princeton

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said intolerance and unemployment are the key issues that pose a serious challenge to India's national security and development.

The job numbers are nowhere where they should be, Gandhi said, as he admitted that previous Congress governments had failed to address the concern. People were angry with us because we could not deliver on our promises, and they will get angry again, Gandhi said. 'The Congress party was unable to provide them job and now Modi is failing to provide them jobs,' Gandhi added.

"We're not spending enough on education and healthcare. Jobs are the biggest challenge. 30,000 youngsters coming into the market daily. 400 jobs being made.

"Gandhi said there's a lot of space for cooperation between the United States and India in the creation of jobs and in the education sector.

Asked to explain the rise of politicians like Narendra Modi in India and Donald Trump in the United States, Gandhi said, "Why Modi and Trump rose is because of jobs. A lot of people don't have jobs and they Modi and Trump can see that."

Those who want jobs helped Modi reach where he is, Gandhi said adding that the space for Modi was creating because the Congress "was unable" to deliver on its promise to create jobs.

"There are two large migrations taking place one is completely free and the other is centrally controlled. The systems respond differently. India and China are two huge countries that are transforming from agricultural countries to urban modern model countries. And that's a huge chunk of the world population," Rahul Gandhi at Princeton University said while interacting with students.

"And how these two countries do is going to fundamentally reshape the world. It's not my place to say that China should be democratic or not. They have chosen their path and we have chosen ours," he said.

But there is "cooperation and there is competition" between the two most populous countries of the world. "We have to figure out how to get our jobs. We have to basically compete with China," said adding that frankly India is not doing that well.

China, he said, is entering spaces with One Belt, One Road (OBOR) venture.

"And China has a particular vision of the world. It's very clear. And from their perspective it's a very powerful vision," he said.

Gandhi also raised a series of questions for India that he sought to be answered.

"Does India has a similar vision? What does that vision look like? How much cooperation is going to be between us and them? These are basically the fundamental questions going forward. But the thing to realise is that China is moving with tremendous power and we have to work with that," he said.

"So I think a lot of synergy between the two countries. Also historically India has maintained balance (in relationship). So India has had a relationship with China and has had a relationship with Russia. It has had a relationship with the US and both the countries. To me the strategic relationship with the United States is important," he said.

The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family underscored the need for a balance (of relationship) in terms of all the other countries.

"But balance is also important in terms of all the other countries. So I would say there is a a slight difference between us and the government," Gandhi said in response to a question.

He further averred the need to work on the lines of gender equality.

PTI