NCP chief Sharad Pawar has questioned the Centre over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s silence over United State Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks on ‘human rights abuses’ in India, at a joint presser in the US.
“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and EAM S Jaishankar were present there, they should have commented. Instead, they stayed silent,” said PTI quoted Pawar as saying during a press conference in Mumbai.
Blinken had on Monday asserted that the United States was monitoring what he described as a rise in “human rights abuses” in India by some officials, in a rare direct rebuke by Washington of New Delhi.
“We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values (of human rights) and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials,” Blinken had said in a joint press briefing with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Jaishankar and Singh.
However, EAM Jaishankar later took a strong stand against Blinken’s remarks and said that people are entitled to have views about India, adding, “We also take our views on other people’s human rights situation, including that of the United States.”
Lashing out at the Narendra Modi government, the NCP chief said if something wrong is happening in the country, then it should be stopped rather talking about it in front of others.
“Talking about the problems of the country brings disrepute to the country. If something wrong is happening in the country, then it should be stopped rather than talking about it in front of others, ” he said.
