Congress on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is in the US as India’s PM and not as a star campaigner for US President Donald Trump.
PM Modi should not take “a partisan position” on the host country’s domestic politics, it said.
Congress leader Anand Sharma said India and the US have a strategic partnership which is bipartisan and which the Congress party fully endorses.
After the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event, he also launched a scathing attack on PM Modi, saying, “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.”
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.
— Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) September 22, 2019
“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, he added.
“Reminding you that you are in the USA as our Prime Minister and not a star campaigner in US elections,” Sharma further added.
PM Modi addressed the large gathering during the ‘Howdy Modi!’ event. The event had witnessed over 50,000 Indian-Americans.
The Congress leader also said that the Prime Minister at the event the slogan ‘Ab ki baar Trump sarkar’ was better avoided because we have engaged with the Republican administration, Democrats administration.
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PM Modi, in his speech to a large Indian American audience in the presence of US President Donald Trump on Sunday at Houston, had said India connected well with Trump and his words ‘Ab ki baar Trump sarkar’ when he was presidential candidate rang loud and clear.
He also said, “When the US elections came, the Indian leadership did not take a partisan position to support or endorse Republicans. President (Barack) Obama took over as the US president and we carried forward that engagement as effectively as we had done with the previous Republican administration.”
“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,” Sharma said.
“Our relationship with the United States of America has throughout been bipartisan, vis-a-vis Republicans and Democrats. Your actively campaigning for Trump is a breach of both India and America as sovereign nations and democracies,” he said.
(With ANI inputs)