‘Please, Look Carefully At What He Said’: EAM Jaishankar Ends ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ Row

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clarified on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phrase ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ at the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event that it was only used in reference to the US President using it in his election campaign, reported The Indian Express.

EAM Jaishankar, who is currently on a three-day-long Washington DC tour, asserted that India had a “very non-partisan” stand to the United States’ domestic politics.

Requesting journalists to be accurate, he said that PM Modi had only acknowledged that Trump was using the slogan to promote his candidature among the Indian American community for the 2020 US presidential elections.

“No, he did not say that,” he said while denying the impression of Indian PM endorsing Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. “I think, please, look very carefully at what the prime minister said. My recollection of what the prime minister said was that candidate Trump had used this (‘Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkaar’). So PM is talking about the past. I do not think we should, honestly, misinterpret what was said. I do not think you are doing a good service to anybody,” added Jaishankar.

PM Modi, addressing the Indian diaspora at the mega event in Houston, Texas, had lauded President Trump for his “sense of leadership, a passion for America, a concern for every American and a strong resolve to make America great again”.

He also said, “The words of candidate Trump, ‘Abki Baar Trump sarkar’, rang loud and clear...” This statement, right after his speech, drew heavy criticism on social media and in the Indian political spectrum. Many had accused the PM for violating India’s foreign policy of non-involvement in the local politics of another country.