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Geneva. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, albeit in a subtle manner, told those countries in a strict tone that if you make any kind of statement about Indian politics, then you will have to be ready to hear the same about yourself. This statement of the Foreign Minister is being considered very special because it is often seen that some countries including America, Canada talk nonsense about Indian politics.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said he has no problem with other countries commenting on Indian politics but they should also be prepared to listen to his comments on their own politics. He made this scathing remark during an interaction with the Indian community here.
Jaishankar was asked a question by some foreign diplomats based in New Delhi about his personal meetings with some opposition leaders in his own country. The foreign minister did not give a direct answer and said, “I have no problem if people comment about our politics, but I think in all fairness they should also be ready to hear my comments about their politics.”
Referring to famous author George Orwell’s work ‘Animal Farm’, he said, “Some people are more equal than others. How can you really make that equal?” Jaishankar is on the last leg of his three-nation visit. Earlier, he visited Germany and Saudi Arabia.
In his nearly 40-minute speech, he spoke at length on India’s achievements during the last 10 years (since Prime Minister Narendra Modi first took oath in 2014) and reeled off numbers for various sectors like length of roads, airports commissioned and completed, houses built, etc. “I want to share with you the feeling that the brick and mortar part of infrastructure development seems to be what has held us back, which each one of you has personally experienced, which is changing,” he said.
“But changing this is not enough because ultimately, you know, countries, societies are about people. So how are people changing? Changing people is particularly important now,” the foreign minister stressed. He also spoke about stopping black marketing in food distribution (known as the Public Distribution System, PDS) and increasing facilities for higher education, among other issues.
Tags: S Jaishankar
first published : September 14, 2024, 03:29 IST
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