The Congress Party slammed PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday, for violating a long-standing Indian foreign policy of not interfering in matters related to electoral politics of another country. This came after the latter raised the slogan, “Abki Baar Trump Sarkar” during the ‘Howdy Modi’ rally on September 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas.
In a tweet, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today “thanked” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar for covering up on PM’s incompetence and asked him to teach the PM a lesson or two on diplomacy. He said, “thank you Mr Jaishankar for covering up our PM’s incompetence. His fawning endorsement caused serious problems with the Democrats for India. I hope it gets ironed out. While you’re at it, do teach him a little bit about diplomacy.”
Thank you Mr Jaishankar for covering up our PM’s incompetence. His fawning endorsement caused serious problems with the Democrats for India. I hope it gets ironed out with your intervention. While you’re at it, do teach him a little bit about diplomacy.https://t.co/LfHIQGT4Ds
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 1, 2019
Earlier, Congress leader, Anand Sharma had also tweeted and said, “Mr Prime Minister, you have violated the time-honoured principle of Indian foreign policy of not interfering in the domestic elections of another country. This is a singular disservice to the long-term strategic interests of India.”
Our relationship with the United States of America have throughout been bipartisan, vis-à-vis Republicans and Democrats. Your actively campaigning for Trump is a breach of both India and America as sovereign nations and democracies.
— Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) September 22, 2019
When posed with a question in the same regard by a reporter during a press briefing in Washington D.C., External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, “I think, please, look very carefully at what the Prime Minister said. My recollection of what the Prime Minister said was that candidate Trump had used this (“Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar”). So PM is talking about the past. I don’t think we should, honestly, misinterpret what was said. I don’t think you’ re doing a good service to anybody.”
He further added that India has a very non-partisan approach to domestic US politics. He clarified that PM Modi was merely recollecting an existing election slogan of the President of the US and it only reflected the close relationship the President shares with the Indo-American community.