Former Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi went on a historic 6-day visit to the United States of America to interact with Indian diaspora and others, and reiterate Congress Party’s commitment to democratic values in India and across the world.

The visit was organised by the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC), the global network of the Indian National Congress. During the visit, Shri Gandhi held wide-ranging conversations with a cross-section of the Indians settled in the US from different walks of life. The meaningful, fair, and open dialogues were held on issues concerning democracy, development, freedom, human rights, and the condition of institutions of democracy - globally and in India.

Speaking about Shri Gandhi’s visit, Chairman of IOC, Shri Sam Pitroda said, ‘I am happy that Rahul Gandhi ji has been able to take time out from his busy schedule to come to the United States and meet with large, successful, and concerned members of Indian community. They enjoy the fruits of democracy in the US, and are deeply committed to democratic values.’

He added, ‘We believe we have a moral responsibility to initiate and lead democracy dialogue across the world.’

In the first phase of the visit, Shri Gandhi spent two days in Silicon Valley with focus on four main events. The visit began on May 30, with an interaction at the University of Santa Clara where Shri Gandhi met with around 150 members of the faculty, students, local community and political leaders.

Second event was held on the evening of May 30 with a meeting with over a thousand members of Silicon Valley citizens to talk about the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and Shri Gandhi’s vision for the future. Third event was scheduled for May 31, where Shri Gandhi interacted with around 100 entrepreneurs and domain experts on Artificial Intelligence, with focus on AI to take humanity to the next level. The fourth event was later in the afternoon, when Shri Gandhi will met faculty, students and intellectuals at Stanford University to discuss democracy with specialists who have done substantial amount of research on the subject.

In the second phase of the visit, Shri Gandhi travelled from Silicon Valley to Washington DC. He met with the members of think-tanks, like the Hudson Institute. Following that, he addressed a press conference at the National Press Club and interacted with a large section of the global media.

During his 2-day visit to Washington DC, Shri Gandhi also attended a dinner on June 1 with political leaders, the US administration, academicians, and members of business community. Between June 1-2, Shri Gandhi had an interaction with India-US Security Council members, and prominent media executives.

In the third and final phase of his US visit, Shri Gandhi was in New York on June 3, at a High Tea with intellectuals, academicians, scientists, and also separately, a lunch with prominent cultural personalities from the fields of art, music, theatre, cinema, etc.

On June 4, the IOC organized a mega-event at the Javits Centre, known for important and large events in New York City.

Finally, Shri Gandhi got to meet an Indian truck driver, Taljinder Singh, who not only drove Rahul ji on the foreign roads but also highlighted the major differences in the conditions of truck drivers in the two countries. Truck driver told Shri Rahul Gandhi about his monthly US earning and facilities he is getting in USA. Whereas it is quite difficult for an Indian truck driver to even survive in India, especially under BJP rule.