Foreign minister S Jaishankar has recently said people from inside the country are taking the politics outside and people from outside the country are interfering in the politics inside. "This is what we are seeing today," Jaishankar said on Friday in Bengaluru at BJYM Yuva Samvada.
"Many people in the world were very comfortable with how things were in India till 2014 and after things changed, they saw different confidence, different beliefs. Suddenly people started saying there is something wrong, the court is not performing properly, the election commission is not okay, press is being restricted. Everything happened after 2014 only?" Jaishankar said.
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"Why is that happening? You have people outside India who have an interest in people inside India. And when those people do not get electoral success and they are today seen as less and less representing the reality of India, there is an attempt from outside to make out as though that is normal and somewhere India has started to deviate. Now if you look historically, this is the normal -- what you are seeing today," Jaishankar said.
{{/usCountry}}"Why is that happening? You have people outside India who have an interest in people inside India. And when those people do not get electoral success and they are today seen as less and less representing the reality of India, there is an attempt from outside to make out as though that is normal and somewhere India has started to deviate. Now if you look historically, this is the normal -- what you are seeing today," Jaishankar said.
{{/usCountry}}The comment comes amid a major political controversy as the BJP demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London. Rahul Gandhi, before his disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in the 2019 defamation case, was accused of seeking the help of foreign countries in India's internal politics.
As Jaishankar interacted at the event organised by Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, he also commented on the recent attack on Indian missions abroad by pro-Khalistani supporters. "It is the obligation of the receiving country to ensure the embassy or the high commission or the consulate and their premises are respected. These obligations were not met,” Jaishankar said.
The ministry of external affairs summoned Canadian high commissioner Cameron MacKay on Saturday and conveyed its strong concerns about actions by pro-Khalistan elements against the country’s missions in Canada, days after similar protests were lodged with the UK and the US.