PM shouldn’t have endorsed Trump: Oppn
DURING THE ‘HOWDY MODI’ EVENT IN HOUSTON, THE PM HAD SAID, ‘ABKI BAAR, TRUMP SARKAR’
NEWDELHI: The Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have avoided supporting US President Donald Trumpduringthe“howdymodi” event at Houston on Sunday.
During the event attended by over 50,000 people, majority of them Indian-americans, Modi said, “Abki baar, Trump sarkar”, an echo of his party’s pet poll slogan, “Abki baar, Modi sarkar”. Trump is seeking re-election in the US polls due next year.
“There is a time-honoured convention of India’s foreign policy that when we engage with a foreign government we do not take a partisan position in domestic electoral politics,” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said. “PM should have honoured that convention. The PM using that platform to exhort and raising the slogan on ‘Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar’ was better avoided because we have engaged with Republican Administration and Democratic Administration.”
PM Modi, who is in the US on a week-long visit, shared the stage with President Trump at the gala event on Sunday.
But the party also clarified that “Howdy Modi” wouldn’t adversely affect Indo-us rapport.
Modi later tweeted: “Dear @POTUS @realdonaldtrump, your presence at #Howdymodi in Houston was a watershed moment in India-usa ties.”
Underlining that New Delhi has maintained good rapport with the US, irrespective of which party was in power, Sharma said during the Republican administration under President George W Bush India negotiated the historic Indo-us Nuclear Agreement, which was signed on October 8, 2008. “The Indian leadership did not take any position to support or endorse the Republicans. Obama took over as US President and we carried forward that engagement with the Democratic President as effectively as we have done with the previous administration,” he added.
While wishing luck to Modi for the visit, the Congress leader also maintained that “it would have been better that the Prime Minister had shed his aversion to Pandit Nehru and joined in endorsing what the US Senators were saying about Jawaharlal Nehru.” He was referring to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s comment, “[India], like America, [is] proud of its ancient traditions to secure a future according to Gandhi’s teaching and Nehru’s vision of India as a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual.”
Later, Congress leader Milind Deora hailed Modi’s visit and dubbed Modi’s Houston speech as a “momentous first for India’s soft power diplomacy”, adding that his father, late Murli Deora was one of the early architects of deeper Indo-us ties. Modi promptly replied: “You are absolutely correct when you highlight my friend, late Murli Deora Ji’s commitment to strong ties with USA. He would have been really glad to see the strengthening of ties between our nations. The warmth and hospitality of @POTUS was outstanding.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticized the fanfare and asked the government to disclose how much it spent for the event. “The government should come out how much it has spent to help Trump’s re-election bid. These shows won’t make any difference to common people on jobs or reviving economy. He was talking about J&K in Houston but he hasn’t opened his mouth on the issue in India for over a month,” said CPI(M) politburo member Nilotpal Basu.