Last Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Indian National Congress leader and political figure Rahul Gandhi was invited to an event at The University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, where he gave a lecture on ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century’.

Through his speech he expressed his thoughts that the focus of foreign conglomerates and MNCs shifting manufacturing industries from “democratic countries” like India and the US to China needed “urgent attention and dialogue”.

Gandhi in the period of his speech chiefly focussed on the “art of listening” and expressed the need for a ‘new thinking’ to encourage a democratic environment globally. He was quoted as saying, “…the “art of listening”, when done consistently and diligently, is “very powerful”.

“We simply cannot afford a planet that doesn’t produce under democratic systems. So, we need new thinking about how you produce in a democratic environment compared to a coercive environment, and a negotiation about this,” he said.

Gandhi during his lecture made sure to include his Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign; the recently-concluded 4,000-km walk led by him through 12 states from September 2022 to January 2023 to draw attention to major problems plaguing development in India, like “prejudice, unemployment and growing inequality…”. Explaining the term “yatra” to the foreign audience present, as a journey or pilgrimage in which people “shut themselves down so they can listen to others”.

In the closing portions of his lecture, Gandhi wrapped up his speech by talking on the “Imperative for a Global Conversation”, as he connected together the different subjects he talked during his lecture in a call for a new type of receptiveness, to accommodate multiple perspectives and world communication to combat global problems.

Gandhi was introduced to the Cambridge audience by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Strategy & Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School, Kamal Munir, as a member of a “long lineage of global leaders”.

Gandhi who is still on his week long sojourn in the UK, will interact with Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) representatives, UK chapter and also address an “Indian Diaspora Conference” planned over the weekend in London.