Congress' stand on Article 370 clear, every voice in country should be heard: Rahul Gandhi

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a visit to Europe, said here on Friday that the party's stand on Article 370 was very clear and it also wants to ensure that every voice in the country is heard, with people being allowed to express themselves freely.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club in the Belgian capital, Rahul Gandhi said: "Our position on Article 370 is very clear. It's in a resolution passed in the CWC. We are for ensuring that every single person in our country has a voice, and is allowed to express themselves. We feel very strongly that Kashmir should develop, Kashmir should progress, and there should be peace in Kashmir."

He was responding to a question about Article 370 and restrictions imposed on opposition leaders in the union territory in 2019.

When asked about the India's relationship with Russia and the US, the senior Congress leader said: "I mean, India of course has a relationship with Russia and India has a relationship with with the US. India is a large country and it will have relationship with many countries. That is a normal thing and India has every right to have relationship with whoever it wants."

He said that there were "serious issues about the type of actions that are being taken in with regard to institution and democracy".

"There is a sense that there are underlined issues."

When asked about the opposition's point of view of the Russia-Ukraine war, Rahul Gandhi said: "I think the opposition by and large would agree with the government position. We have a relationship with Russia. And I don't think the opposition will have a different view of what the government is currently proposing."

He also said that he has been travelling abroad to meet different people both from Europe and from the Indian diaspora and he has been doing it regularly now.

"We have gone to the US and UK and now we have come to the European Union to get a sense of what is happening here and back home.

"It's more of a conversation than a message. I am no one to come and give a message to Europeans. It's an exchange of ideas what is going on in India and what is going on here. The type of cooperation we can do. Its more of a conversation.

"We discussed with the parliamentarians across the board, the relationship between India and Europe and the change in the globe and transition into a new sort of energy paradigm and new mobility paradigm. That was very fruitful.

"We were giving them a sense of the type of challenges India is facing, economic challenges, other challenges. The general sort of attack on the democratic institutions that was discussed," Rahul Gandhi added.

To another question, the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Wayanad said: "I don't think, the G20 is an important conversation and it is a good thing that India is hosting. Of course there are issue in India that we raise. I think the framing that are they giving them free passage is not exactly correct."

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Brussels on September 6 and he will visiting some other nations like France, the Netherlands and Norway till September 11 and participate in several interactive programmes and also meet businessmen and diaspora.