Rahul Gandhi slams Modi for "betraying" people
Wardha (Maharashtra), Oct 2 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "betraying the people by making false promises" ahead of the 2014 general elections.
Addressing the 'Gandhi Sankalp Rally' after a Congress Working Committee meeting here, he attacked Modi on a range of issues, including the Rafale deal, rising fuel prices, unemployment and farm distress.
"You trusted Modiji for four years. He promised you that there will be no 'Made in China', but only 'Make in India'. But you see, everything from phones to your shoes is 'Made in China'.
"Modi made a false promise to you. He cannot give you employment. But we will work 24 hours a day to give you employment. We will waive your loans too. We have done it in 2009; we can do it again," the Congress chief said as he urged people to repose trust in the Congress that followed Mahatma Gandhi's ideology.
Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of striking a shady deal for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets only to benefit what he called Modi's "bankrupt" crony. An inexperienced company had been chosen ignoring the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
He sought to know from the Prime Minister the reason behind choosing a new company in the defence deal.
Attacking the government over rising fuel prices, Rahul Gandhi said: "The money paid by you (people) is going into the pockets of only a few richest people in India. This is the reality of India. The Congress is a party of the farmers, the weak and the small traders."
He also accused Modi of helping his cronies convert their black money into white following the November 2016 demonetisation.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
