Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked why PM Modi was not invited to take part in the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20. The Congress leader stated that if there had been a stronger robust system, the foreign minister need not have gone to the US to ‘seek’ invitations for the Prime Minister.
“When we talk to the United States, we would not send our Foreign Minister to get an invite for our Prime Minister to Donald Trump’s coronation; we would not send our foreign minister three or four times to get an invite for our prime minister; if we were working on our production, then the American President would come here and invite the PM,” Gandhi remarked in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar demonstrated India at the inauguration ceremony of US President Trump on January 20. The statement had a rough outcome with the government as Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju protested, exclaiming it an ‘unsubstantiated’ statement.
“The leader of the opposition cannot make such serious, unsubstantial remarks. This is related to the relation between two nations, and he is making an unverified statement about the invitation of the Prime Minister of our country,” Rijiju said.
Rahul Gandhi replied to Rijiju’s protest by saying, “I apologise for disturbing your peace of mind.”
The row followed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declaration on January 31 that India and the United States were working towards an early meeting of PM Modi with the US President Trump to further deepen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic partnership.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the schedule for the visit is being worked on and will be declared later.
