External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday questioned the criticism surrounding his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Mumbai, responding to Rahul Gandhi's description of the visit as a “summons”.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Jaishankar said he could not understand why the meeting had triggered such a reaction. He also questioned the criticism of Mumbai as the venue for the interaction with the US official.
“I failed to get it,” the minister said, adding, “They don't like Mumbai. They have something against Mumbai. It's our financial capital. It's our Bollywood capital. It has got so much going for it. Maybe Mumbai doesn't like them. I have no idea. Why they have this reservation,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar added that if travelling outside Delhi to meet a foreign leader or counterpart was considered a summoning, he could cite several such instances. He referred to former prime minister Indira Gandhi's visit to Shimla to meet Pakistan's then president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, questioning whether she too had been summoned on that occasion.
His remarks came in response to Rahul Gandhi's characterisation of his Mumbai visit to meet Rubio as a “summoning”.
Jaishankar cites Indira Gandhi's meeting with Bhutto
The 71-year-old minister argued that travelling outside Delhi to meet foreign leaders was not unusual. He cited instances from the Congress's own history to counter the criticism.
Jaishankar referred to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's meeting with Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Shimla in 1972, where the two leaders signed the Shimla Agreement. He also mentioned former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid hosting a lunch for Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in Jaipur.
“If going out of Delhi to meet a foreign leader or a foreign counterpart is summoning, I can give you a lot of examples. Mrs Gandhi went to Shimla to meet Bhutto. Was she summoned? Salman Khurshid went to Jaipur was he summoned?” he asked.
Jaishankar questions criticism of Mumbai meeting
Reiterating his argument, Jaishankar asked why meetings held outside the national capital should be viewed as a sign that a leader had been summoned.
“I mean, Mrs. Gandhi went to Shimla to meet Bhutto. Was she summoned? Salman Khurshid went to Jaipur to meet Pakistani. Was he summoned? So, I think, look, I mean, we are adults,” Jaishankar said.
Earlier, on October 16 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the government over US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with government officials in Mumbai, claiming that officials of the external affairs ministry were “confused” over it.
“Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what’s going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to,” Gandhi said in a post on X.