Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has criticized former US President Barack Obama over his comments that India would “start pulling apart” if the rights of religious minorities aren’t protected.
"[I]f you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart,” Obama told CNN in an interview last week, which was broadcast during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit.
Addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Sunday, Sitharaman recalled that US forces had dropped over 26,000 bombs on seven predominantly Muslim nations in 2016 — the last year of Obama’s second term as president.
As per US think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), American bombs were dropped in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.
Sitharaman underlined that around six predominantly Muslim countries, including Bahrain, Maldives, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, have bestowed state honors upon Prime Minister Modi.
She likewise noted that Egypt has become the latest country to confer Modi with its highest state award, the ‘Order of the Nile’, on Sunday.
Sitharaman said that Obama had fallen victim to the “organized campaign” run by India’s main opposition Congress Party to smear India’s human rights record under Prime Minister Modi in foreign countries.
“The opposition tries to incite such people against India and they get involved without knowledge of ground-level details,” Sitharaman stated.
Charges of Religious Discrimination in India a ‘Non-Issue’
Sitharaman noted that Prime Minister Modi had also rejected allegations of religious discrimination existing in India while addressing a joint press conference with President Joe Biden at the White House last week.
She called these charges are a “non-issue”.
“Congress party’s role is pretty evident (in these campaigns),” she said, referring to the visit of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi to the US.
In his visit, which took place days before the Indian prime minister's state visit, Gandhi castigated Modi’s government for its human rights record since it came to power.
The opposition politician said that a “full-scale attack” was taking place on India’s institutions, including the judiciary and media, under the BJP-led government.