Punjab CM Mann again questions PM Modi foreign visits: ‘He can go to Pakistan, but we cannot'

‘We cannot go to Pakistan, but he can land there!’ says Punjab chief minister, reacts to MEA rebuke, ‘Why can’t I ask about foreign policy?'

Updated on: Jul 11, 2025, 18:00:48 IST

By Aarish Chhabra

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday continued with his jibes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his foreign visits, singling out his 2015 stopover in Pakistan.

CM Bhagwant Mann speaking during the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session in Chandigarh on Friday. (Ravi Kumar/HT Photo)

“It seems that when the PM is flying in his plane, he looks down and asks, ‘Which country is that?’ When told it's so-and-so, he says, ‘No worries, we will reach an hour late where we are going; let’s land here now.' He decides to land just anywhere. That's how he landed in Pakistan too,” Mann, a comedian-turned-politician, said in Punjabi in the state assembly on Friday.

Mann referred pointedly to PM Modi's 2015 surprise visit to Pakistan to meet the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif.

Also read: MEA slams Punjab CM Mann's 'Magnesia, Tarvesia' jibe on Modi

“The PM decided, just like that, to visit Pakistan. He had biryani and came back. We cannot go to Pakistan, but he can land there!” Mann remarked.

In 2015, Modi was returning home after a visit to Russia and a halt in Afghanistan when he decided to make a stop in Pakistan too.

No effect of MEA rebuke

CM Mann had made similar comments about PM Modi's visits at a function earlier this week, after which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, without naming Mann, that the comments were “irresponsible and regrettable”.

Outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday, Mann was asked specifically about the MEA response, to which he replied: “Do I not have the right to ask about foreign policy?”

Also read: Punjab CM defends Diljit's ‘Sardaarji 3’ with Hania Aamir

He added, "I will continue to ask in the future as well. With 140 crore people in the country, he should engage with them and address their concerns. He says he will stop the Ukraine(-Russia) war, but he can't even resolve water issues between Punjab and Haryana."

Mann had joked about how PM Modi might be visiting random, non-existent countries like “Magnesia”, “Galveaisa”, or “Tarvesia”, suggesting that his visits are not substantial.

Defends Diljit's movie

Inside the House on Friday, Mann was acerbic as he defended Diljit Dosanjh over the casting of a Pakistani actor, Hania Aamir, in his latest movie ‘Sardaarji 3’. That is when he brought up Modi's Pakistan visit.

Diljit's movie, he stressed, had been shot before the Pahalgam terror attack, after which India carried out Operation Sindoor against teror bases in Pakistan.

Mann said no one could “issue certificates of patriotism”. He also had "a message for the entire country”, that “without Punjab and Haryana, you cannot eat” as the two states “account for 70 per cent of the country's foodgrain production”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aarish Chhabra
Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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