New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy during the Rachnatmak Congress Organising National
Convention in New Delhi on Thursday, using a light-hearted exchange with party leader Sandeep Dikshit to mock Modi’s public interactions with foreign leaders.
Gandhi told the gathering that he would demonstrate what foreign policy meant to Modi before stretching out his arms and moving towards Dikshit to hug him.
RaGa is in full roast mode.🤣🔥
Rahul Gandhi just gave the most savage demonstration of “hug diplomacy”.
*Runs and hugs Sandeep Dikshit*
The hall couldn’t stop laughing.
This one will travel. pic.twitter.com/XodlA8MvS8— Rajat Jain (@RajatJain) August 13, 2026
“I don’t know where he (PM Modi) got this idea from. Strange ideas get into people’s heads. He thinks this is foreign policy,” Gandhi said.
Dikshit joined the joke by referring to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “You weren’t hugging me thinking I was Meloni?” he asked, drawing laughter from the audience.
Gandhi responded, “I haven’t reached that stage yet.”
The exchange appeared to refer to PM Modi’s public interactions with foreign leaders, including his viral ‘Melody’ moment with Meloni.
The mockery drew a sharp response from BJP leaders. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared footage of the Congress event and questioned Gandhi’s mental state. “Do you think Rahul Gandhi’s mental state is sound?” he tweeted.
BJP leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar also criticised the Congress leader over his reference to Meloni. “Targeting Prime Ministers with such cheap language isn’t politics. It is gutter-level behaviour that brings shame to Indian political discourse,” he wrote on X.
Gandhi, meanwhile, expanded his criticism beyond the diplomatic gesture and questioned the government’s response to geopolitical developments.
Referring to the Iran-US war, the Congress leader argued that India could have used its ties with Iran, the US and Russia to play a larger diplomatic role.
Gandhi also raised the India-China border situation, particularly mentioning Arunachal Pradesh and areas where troops conduct patrols.
