“Indian Leaders Must Prioritise National Values”: Ex-US Official on Rahul Gandhi’s Democracy Remarks

Former US official Raymond Vickery has weighed in on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about India’s democratic decline, urging Indian leaders across the political spectrum to uphold national values and interests above partisan divides.

Speaking in an interview with IANS, Vickery noted that the bipartisan consensus on core values, once a hallmark of both American and Indian politics, has weakened in recent years.

“I would rather [hope] Indian leaders on both sides of the political divide speak out in favour of Indian values, including those in the interest of India,” Vickery said. “In the US, both Republicans and Democrats once worked together to present American values internationally. That has broken down here, and I’m afraid it’s breaking down in India as well.”

He advised political leaders to adopt a broader perspective when addressing national priorities, stressing that whether in government or opposition, leaders must safeguard India’s democratic framework.

His comments came after Rahul Gandhi, addressing students at EIA University in Envigado, Colombia, launched a sharp critique of the Narendra Modi government, warning of what he described as a “systematic attack” on India’s democratic foundations.

Calling India a “complex and decentralised nation”, Gandhi argued that the country’s strength lies in its diversity of languages, religions, and traditions — and only democracy can give space to all voices.

“India is a conversation between all its people,” Gandhi said, cautioning that any attempt to impose authoritarianism would ultimately fail, given India’s fundamentally different design compared to centralised systems like China.