PM Narendra Modi targets previous governments from UAE; Congress calls it 'national insult'

MASDAR/NEW DELHI: In yet another attack on previous governments from foreign soil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said there was "lethargy" in the past, inviting sharp reactions from Congress which termed his remarks as "outrageous, a national insult and condemnable".

Modi, while addressing business leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Masdar City of the Gulf country, said his government has got some problems in legacy and his immediate priority would be to kickstart the things which were stalled by the "indecisiveness and lethargy" of the past governments.

"I have got some problems in legacy. I cannot take only the good points and leave aside the problems... Some things were stalled due to the indecisiveness and lethargy of the governments (in the last)... It is my priority to kickstart those things," he said.

Reacting to this, Congress spokesman R P N Singh told reporters in Delhi that "Whenever the Prime Minister touches foreign soil, he seems to be losing his mental balance".

Noting that Modi had made similar remarks during his official visit to Germany, Canada and China earlier, Singh said, these statements were "outrageous, a national insult and condemnable".

He said "humiliating one's own country on foreign soil is immature leadership" and "Modi has earned the dubious distinction of being the first world leader to berate and insult his predecessors on foreign soil and negate India's proud achievements, just for political partisanship."

Singh's party colleague Sanjay Jha tweeted, "It is abominable that PM Modi continues his pathetic lowbrow jibes at opposition party when abroad. A huge embarrassment."

Another Congress spokesman Meem Afzal said it was not proper for Modi to rake up domestic politics abroad despite repeated uproar by the opposition for his earlier such actions.

"The Prime Minister should have maintained dignity of the high office he holds. There is no problem if he targets previous governments when he is in the country. But he should have refrained from doing so on foreign soil," he said.

Afzal reminded the PM that the vast growth in the trade turnover with UAE from 160 million dollars to 60 billion dollars was mainly due to the efforts by the earlier governments, including those of the UPA.

"India receives 10 billion dollars remittances annually from 26 lakh NRIs in the UAE which invests 15 billion dollars in the Gulf country", he said.