S Jaishankar, Siddaramaiah Trade Barbs On Twitter Over Former Chief Minister's "Grossly Irresponsible" Tweet

India's External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, and the former Karnataka chief minister, Siddaramaiah, recently faced off on Twitter over the safety of Indian citizens in violence-hit Sudan.

Siddaramaiah tweeted requesting the intervention of the Prime Minister, Home Minister, External Affairs Minister, and Karnataka Chief Minister in ensuring the safe return of 31 Hakki Pikki tribe members of Karnataka stranded in the troubled country.

"Hakki Pikkis in Sudan are left stranded without food since the last few days & the govt is yet to initiate action to bring them back," the former chief minister of Karnataka said in a follow-up tweet.

He urged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to "immediately open diplomatic discussions & reach out to international agencies to ensure the well-being of Hakki Pikkis."

Taking offence, Jaishankar responded to Siddaramaiah's tweet, asserting that he was already engaged in bringing back stranded Indian nationals:

“Simply appalled at your tweet! There are lives at stake; don’t do politics. Since the fighting started on April 14th, the Embassy of India in Khartoum has been continuously in touch with most Indian Nationals and PIOs in Sudan."

"It is grossly irresponsible of you to politicize their situation. No electoral goal justifies endangering Indians abroad," the External Affairs Minister added.

Siddaramaiah then shot back at Jaishankar: “If you are busy getting appalled please point us to the person who can help us bring our people back."

He said he had appealed to Jaishankar for help only because he was the External Affairs Minister.

The conflict in Sudan between the armed forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and a paramilitary force, known as the Rapid Support Forces and led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has resulted in the loss of 185 lives, with 1,800 people injured, as reported by the United Nations special representative for Sudan.