Rahul likely to embark on Europe tour in September, to meet EU lawmakers, Indian diaspora

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to embark on a Europe tour, covering three countries namely Belgium, Norway, and France from the second week of September, sources said on Friday.

According to sources, the Congress MP will visit Europe in the second week of September, where he will be meeting European Union Parliamentarians, the Indian diaspora, and university students.

He will be visiting Belgium, Norway and France, they added.

This foreign trip comes after his 10-day US tour, which began in May, this year. The Congress leader covered three cities namely San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York during his previous tour, where he interacted with the Indian diaspora, venture capitalists, and lawmakers, among others.

Rahul Gandhi's foreign visits are under fire since his speech at Cambridge University in London earlier this year, in which he said that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. In a lecture at Cambridge University, UK, Rahul Gandhi said, "Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India. We are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy-- Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around-- all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy."

The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the former Congress president of tarnishing the country's image on foreign soil.