‘What kind of I.N.D.I.A. are you?’, asks S Jaishankar to opposition

On Thursday, 27th July 2023, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar strongly criticised the Opposition Alliance, which has been named I.N.D.I.A., for causing disruptions in the Rajya Sabha while he was delivering a suo moto statement on the country’s foreign policy. During his statement in the Upper House of Parliament, chaos erupted as members in the Treasury benches chanted “Modi, Modi,” while those in the Opposition raised slogans of “India, India.”

In a media interaction outside the parliament, Dr S Jaishankar said, “I gave a suo moto statement today in Rajya Sabha. Because we felt that in the last few months, there has been an enormous achievement in foreign policy. And some of the achievements, you know, if I were to spell out for example, you know, for the past forty years, we were trying to get GE aircraft engines from the USA. Thanks to the Prime Minister’s visit we succeeded in doing so. You all know today how important semiconductor is. You know, we are putting in a big effort, big energy into a semiconductor mission because that is what will make India strong for the future. Now, three very important American companies made commitments to invest in centres in India during Prime Minister’s visit. And we saw that Google for example decided that its global fintech centre would be in India. Now I can give you many other examples in different countries.”

He added, “So our effort was today to say look, the country has progressed. Our foreign policy is delivering for the people of India, the national good of India. So we thought at least for this issue the opposition would put its political differences aside and would listen to it with an open mind and would put national interest first. If you claim to be I.N.D.I.A. and you are not prepared to listen to the national interests of India, what kind of I.N.D.I.A. are you? I mean you an I.N.D.I.A. which is prepared to sacrifice national interests. That is not an I.N.D.I.A. to be.”

Dr S Jaishankar further said, “I feel very unfortunate today. Foreign policy has long been an issue where different political parties have come together. They may disagree with each other on other things. It is one area where by and large there has been a national consensus, national unity. There should be appreciation if the Prime Minister today is honoured across the world. and I spelt it out that he got the highest-ever award France gives. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to get that. Take the case of Papua New Guinea or Fiji.”

Dr S Jaishankar said, “It is one thing to have politics. I am also in politics. I think on some times and certain issues people should put politics aside and think about the country. They should be prepared to listen to where we have made progress. This is good for the country. It is not just an achievement of a government, It is an achievement of a country. The President was given the highest award in Surinam. If you cannot respect the President, you cannot respect the Vice-President, and you cannot respect the Prime Minister, you will not allow the foreign minister to make a statement in the house then I think it is a very sorry state of affairs and it is really very very unfortunate how strongly and how wrongly partisan politics is pursued.”

Shortly after Jaishankar’s statement, amid the Opposition’s sloganeering, the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha were adjourned.