Congress accuses Modi of taking partisan position on US electoral politics

Congress on Monday accused Narendra Modi of violating a time-honoured principle of Indian foreign policy, saying he is in the US as India's prime minister and not as a star campaigner in the elections there.

Modi should not take "a partisan position" on the host country's domestic politics, it said.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said India and the US have a strategic partnership which is bipartisan and which the Congress party fully endorses.

"There is a time-honoured convention of India's foreign policy that when we engage with foreign governments or the Prime Minister and the President are on foreign soil, we do not take a partisan position on domestic electoral politics," he said.

"The PM should have honoured that. It should not be seen that India is taking positions or sides. And the Prime Minister using that platform to exhort and raise that slogan `Ab ki baar Trump sarkar' was better avoided because we have engaged with the Republican administration, Democrats administration," he said.

Modi, in his speech to a large Indian American audience in the presence of US President Donald Trump on Sunday at Houston, had said India connected well with Trump and his words 'Ab ki baar Trump sarkar' when he was presidential candidate rang loud and clear.

"We in India have connected well with President Trump. The words of candidate Trump 'Ab ke baar Trump sarkar,' rang loud and clear and his celebration of Diwali in the White House lit up millions of faces with joy and appreciation," Modi said.

Sharma said it was Republican Administration under George Bush that Congress-led UPA government signed the historic nuclear deal with the US.

"When the US elections came, the Indian leadership did not take a partisan position to support or endorse Republicans. President (Barack) Obama took over as the US president and we carried forward that engagement as effectively as we had done with the previous Republican administration," he said.

He said as far as India's strategic interests were concerned, it has to engage with all the parties concerned.

"We wish the Prime Minister all success for his visit. We hope that the Prime Minister will get President Trump to agree that the US will restore all cuts in H1B visas, reduce the fees and again restore GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) so that Indian exports can access American markets," he said.

Earlier in tweets, Sharma had said that Modi has violated the time-honoured principle of Indian foreign policy of not interfering in the domestic elections of another country.

"Reminding you that you are in the USA as our Prime Minister and not a star campaigner in US elections," he said.

"Mr Prime Minister, you have violated the time-honoured principle of Indian foreign policy of not interfering in the domestic elections of another country. This is a singular disservice to the long-term strategic interests of India," Sharma said.

"Our relationship with the United States of America has throughout been bipartisan, vis-a-vis Republicans and Democrats. Your actively campaigning for Trump is a breach of both India and America as sovereign nations and democracies," he said.

Modi addressed the large gathering during the 'Howdy Modi!' event. The event, the first in terms of its scale, was held in his honour.

The Prime Minister lavishly praised Trump, saying his every word is followed by tens of millions, his name is familiar to every person on the planet, his name comes up in almost all conversation in the world on global politics.

He said that Trump was very popular even before he went on to occupy the highest office in the US.

( With inputs from ANI )