At least nine people were killed and almost 2,750 people, including Iran’s ambassador, were injured in Beirut’s suburbs and other parts of Lebanon, and in some parts of Syria, after their handheld pagers exploded today (September 17, 2024). At least 200 of them are critically wounded.

Hezbollah, in a statement, blamed Israel for the explosions and said that it will get its “fair share of punishment”.

Earlier, Hezbollah confirmed at least two of its members and a girl were killed in the explosions. The group said in a statement that it was carrying out an investigation to determine the causes of the blasts.

A senior military intelligence official and an official with a Lebanese group with knowledge of the situation, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said that pagers carried by Hezbollah members were detonated. The second official said it was believed to be an Israeli attack.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, close to the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, said on its Telegram channel that Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador in Lebanon, has a superficial injury and is under observation at a hospital. 

Meanwhile, another semi-official Mehr news agency, also on its Telegram channel reported that Amani was wounded by a pager explosion.

Washington DC [US], September 11/ Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi came out heavily against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre over the border standoff with China and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not handled the situation well.

The Congress leader was speaking at an interaction with media at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Tuesday (local time).

“We’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh, and I think that’s a disaster. The media doesn’t like to write about it. How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000 square kilometers of its territory? Would any president be able to get away with saying he’s handled that well? So, I don’t think Mr Modi has handled China well at all. I see no reason why Chinese troops should be sitting in our territory,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Notably, in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started.

Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.

Over 50,000 Indian soldiers have been stationed since 2020 at forward posts along the LAC, with advanced weapons to prevent any attempts to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.

Terming the Chinese vision of production as “non-democratic”, the Raebareli MP stressed on the idea of US and India placing a production vision in a democratic and free society.

“We don’t want to do it like the Chinese are doing it. We don’t want to do it in an environment which is non-democratic, which is not liberal. So the real question for the 21st century, the Chinese have placed a production vision on the table. It’s a non-democratic production vision. Can the United States and India answer that by placing a vision for production in a democratic free society? And I think that’s where a lot of answers lie,” he said.

Rahul, also opened on his new role and responsibilities as the Leader of Opposition, and said there is an ideological war taking place between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-RSS. He further vowed that the Opposition wants to ‘defend’ India’s institutions and provide a broader vision for the country.

“It’s an extension of what I did earlier. There’s an ideological war taking place in India between the Congress and our partners and the BJP and the RSS. They are two completely different visions of India. We believe in a plural vision, a vision where everybody has a right to thrive… an India where you’re not persecuted because of what religion you believe in or what community you come from or which language you speak, versus a much harsher, centralizing vision. So that’s the landscape. And then we fight on that landscape,” the Congress leader further said.

“[We want to] defend India’s institutions, defend the weaker sections in India, defend the lower caste, tribals, minorities, poor people. After the yatra, I try to become the voice of as many people as I can. So for that…you have to go deeper, deep into the agricultural world, the conflicts that are taking place there, into the financial system, into the tax system. So you have to, in a sense, go deep into it, talk to people and then get, understand deeply what they’re saying and then transmit it and at a broader level, provide a vision, INDIA alliance vision for the country, which is obviously going to be fundamentally different than the centralizing, monopolized vision that the BJP is presenting,” he added.

The Congress leader further said that at one time the West used to be the producer of the world, but slowly China took over the responsibility.

He said that not manufacturing enough means, not enough employment can be generated. Rahul further added that there is a huge opportunity for both India and the US to regain the ability to produce.

I am more interested in the act of production: Rahul

“Here in the United States that the West, America, Europe, and India, the West used to be the producer of the world. If you wanted to buy a car, in the 60s, you bought an American car, washing machine, refrigerator…You guys were at the forefront of that. And then somewhere along the line, America decided, India decided, and the West decided that we’re just going to stop. And we handed the whole thing to the Chinese. Now for a country like India, to simply say that we’re going to ignore manufacturing, and only run a services-based economy, it means you cannot give employment to people,” Rahul Gandhi “I am more interested in the act of production- also called manufacturing. Look at what most American, Indian and European countries do. They organize consumption. Uber organizes consumption. Organizing consumption is easy. Organizing production is a completely different ballgame, much more complicated. You have to deal with things when you organize production that you simply don’t have to deal with when you organize production. So to me, there’s a huge opportunity for India and the United States to regain that ability to produce,” he further added.

Speaking on the unemployment situation, the LoP in Lok Sabha said he wants to support small and medium-small businesses and promote a decentralised production system.

“We have a government in Karnataka and Telangana. Each area in India has its own specialty of production. If you go to pretty much any district, Ballari in Karnataka has a very deep textile industry which has been destroyed. So we are looking at these pockets of excellence and then trying to bring modern technology, financial support to build them. So the vision would be more of a decentralized production system. Unlike China, which is huge factories, we would be thinking about smaller and small medium businesses and embedding modern technology into that. We’re testing some of these ideas in Karnataka and Telangana,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi is on a three-day visit to the United States. During this, he has interacted with Indian diaspora besides students and faculty at universities and also met US lawmakers.

This is Rahul Gandhi first visit to the US after he became Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Washington DC: After launching a tirade of attacks at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, opened up on his thoughts on his rivals and said he doesn’t hate the Prime Minister but only disagrees with his point of view.

The Congress leader was interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on Monday (local time).

He also said that India essentially, is an idea of mixing and merging, while alleging that BJP and RSS have the “misunderstanding” of seeing India as a bunch of separate things.

“India at heart, is a union of languages, traditions, histories, religion, everything…When you have lunch here, you get first course, second course…we don’t get that, we get a thali, and everything placed in it…it’s a jumble and every food has the same value…so this idea of mixing and merging is in India,” Rahul Gandhi said.

“When Indian people go to their religious places, they merge with their deity. This is the nature of India. The misunderstanding that BJP and RSS have is they think that India is a whole bunch of separate things. So we don’t need to redefine anything, it’s already there,” he added.

Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi On ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ Slogan

Being asked about the idea of ‘love’ in reference to his ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ slogan, the Congress leader said he disagrees with Prime Minister Modi’s point of view but doesn’t hate him or consider him as his enemy.

“That’s more fun, you go in politics, you shout at that guy and that guy shouts back at you, then you abuse him, then he abuses you back. It’s boring stuff,” Rahul Gandhi said.

“You will be surprised, but I don’t actually hate Mr Modi…he has got a point of view, fine, I don’t agree with his point of view but I don’t hate him. In many moments, I empathise with him. I don’t think like he is my enemy. He has a different point of view, I have a different point of view. I have empathy and compassion for what he is doing,” he further added.

Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi On The 2 Major Challenges Faced By The Congress Party & The Opposition

He further remarked that the Congress party and the Opposition faces two major challenges; first to contest elections and second of “undoing the damage” done by BJP-RSS.

“First, contesting the election, we are confident that we will fight and win the elections against BJP. In the next two or three months we will win these elections. Then, undoing the damage that BJP and RSS have done to our institutions is a much deeper problem and that is not going to get solved so easily and so simply. I still have 20+ cases against me…There is a huge set of structures that are being used to attack the opposition – investigative agencies, the legal system that continues, that has to stop. The real challenge is to make institutions neutral again,” Rahul Gandhi further stated.

About Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi’s Visit To The US

Rahul Gandhi who is on a visit to the US, will be in Washington for two days. Earlier in the day, he addressed the Indian diaspora in Virginia.

Gandhi, who arrived in Dallas on Sunday, also interacted with students and teachers at the University of Texas. He also addressed the members of the Indian diaspora in Dallas.

The Congress leader called the Indian diaspora in the US a ‘vital bridge’ between two nations.