Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that playing a balancing role between the US and China should be one of India’s key foreign policy goals, while criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not protecting vulnerable sections and refusing to accept problems in job creation.

At the Bucerius Summer School in the German city of Hamburg, Gandhi spoke and took questions about a range of domestic issues — both economic and social — and gave a wider view of his foreign policy perspective that may find resonance in the political dialogues ahead of the 2019 general election.

“India has a deep relation with the US. But India can’t ignore the fact that China is growing extremely fast and we need to balance our position. I think certain values India brings to the table. So, India and Europe’s role would be to balance the narrative,” he said.