Rahul Gandhi is back in the headlines, this time for a remark he made that warranted a response from across the international borders. After Rahul Gandhi suggested that the India-Russia annual summit's postponing could be a sign of trouble between the two countries, Moscow was quick to respond and clear the air.
Rahul Gandhi attributed to a news report that claimed the reason behind the cancellation of the India-Russia annual summit was due to Moscow's unease with Quad – a group of US, Japan, Australia and India to counter Chinese influence in Indo-Pacific region.
The Congress leader tweeted: "Russia is a very important friend of India. Damaging our traditional relationships is short-sighted and dangerous for our future."
Rahul Gandhi schooled
Shortly after Rahul Gandhi's tweet went live, the government slammed the Congress leader, denouncing the remarks as "false and misleading."
"The India-Russia Annual Summit did not take place in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. This was a mutually agreed decision between the two governments. Any imputation otherwise is false and misleading. Spreading false stories in important relationships is particularly irresponsible," foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.
Moscow fires back
But that's not all, Russia also responded to Rahul Gandhi, reaffirming the Centre's stand on the fact that relations between India and Russia are progressing.
Russian Ambassador also released a statement on the misleading information about India-Russia summit. The ambassador said the article is far from reality and that "special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India is progressing well despite the COVID-19."
The ambassador further added that Russia is in close contact with India on working out the new dates for the summit, which was postponed due to epidemiological reason.
