Rahul Gandhi slams Modi for pressuring neighbouring countries to benefit Adani

Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked whether the purpose of the Modi government's foreign policy is to make industrialist Gautam Adani richer.

In a video released on Tuesday, he raised questions with evidence about the country's foreign policy in Parliament.

Referring to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as examples, he explained how India's PMO is forcing neighbouring countries into contracts to benefit the Adani Group, Times of India reports.

He said Adani Group benefited greatly after Modi's 2015 Bangladesh visit as the conglomerate that year signed an unfair deal with Bangladesh.

In 2015, it was announced that Adani Power has signed an MoU with Bangladesh to develop a 1,600MW thermal power plant to start power supply to Bangladesh by the end of 2022.

Following the deal, experts said Adani was looting Bangladesh by selling electricity at five times the local rate.

In Sri Lanka, Adani Group bagged two renewable power projects worth $500 million in March 2022.

In June 2022, the country's electricity board chief alleged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had summoned him on 24 November 2021 and said India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pressuring him to hand over a 500MW wind power project to Adani Group.

Following this, amendments to the Sri Lanka Electricity Act were passed with 120 votes in favour in the 225-member parliament amid strong resistance from power sector trade unions in the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board.

The next day, the provision of competitive bidding for energy projects was eliminated amid criticism of Adani Group's entry into the island nation's energy sector.

Sri Lanka's opposition claimed that the amendment was passed so that Adani's illegal deal could be legalised.

"Like before, the power board officer was forced to resign shortly afterwards," Rahul Gandhi noted, criticising the government over its foreign policy.