Foreign minister S Jaishankar has strongly responded to the comments by Rahul Gandhi in London against the Indian government. The Congress leader had launched an attack on the Modi government at the ‘Ideas for India’ conference in London in the UK, where he had also targeted the Indian bureaucrats.
During his interaction at the event, Rahul Gandhi had said that the several European bureaucrats have told him that Indian foreign service has changed, and they have become arrogant. He said, “I was talking to some bureaucrats from Europe and they said that Indian Foreign Service has completely changed, they don’t listen to anything. They are arrogant. Now they are telling us what orders they are getting, there is no conversation.” Saying that what Indian foreign service officials are doing is wrong, Rahul Gandhi said, “You can’t do that.”
Responding to this statement, union foreign minister S Jaishankar, who is a former Indian foreign service bureaucrat, said that it is not arrogance but confidence that the Indian officials are showing under the Modi government. He accepted that the service has changed, that they are following government orders, and not blindly agreeing with others, as the European officials expect. The union minister also said that by standing their grounds, the foreign service officials are defending national interest.
Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 21, 2022
Yes, they follow the orders of the Government.
Yes, they counter the arguments of others.
No, its not called Arrogance.
It is called Confidence.
And it is called defending National Interest. pic.twitter.com/eYynoKZDoW
“Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, its not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence. And it is called defending National Interest,” S Jaishankar tweeted, posting a video clip of the comments by Rahul Gandhi.
In the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, the west has been unhappy with India over the country’s position on sanctions against Russia. Despite pressures from European countries and the USA, the Modi govt had refused to severe economic ties with Russia, and has not stopped importing oil from the country. India also didn’t vote against Russia several times at the UN, choosing to abstain from vote instead.
While the European nations continue to import gas from Russia, they want Indian to stop buying oil from Russia. And as India has not relented keeping own national interest in mind, the western governments are not happy with the Indian government, and it is clear that some of them told Rahul Gandhi that Indian officials have become arrogant.
But instead of supporting the Indian government in the issue, Rahul Gandhi is supporting the foreign officials. Everyone knows why the Europeans are angry with Indian officials for not toing there line, but still Rahul Gandhi said that what the Indian officials are doing is incorrect and they can’t do this.
