n In one of its sharpest attack yet against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday said his usage of the slogan 'Ab ki baar Trump sarkar' in the US during the Houston event reflected his "incompetence".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Prime Minister for the remark at the "Howdy, Modi!" event, saying it reflected his "incompetence", which had caused serious problems with the Democrats for India.
Ever since Modi's mention of the slogan, the Congress has been accusing him of flouting India's long-held policy of not interfering in another nation's politics. US President Donald Trump will seek re-election next year .
He tagged a news report with his tweet, quoting Foreign Minister S Jaishankar as saying that what the prime minister had said at the "Howdy, Modi!" event in Houston recently should not be misinterpreted.
Jaishankar said India had adopted a non-partisan stand to domestic American politics and that Modi was merely repeating US President Donald Trump's words, which he had used to pitch his candidature to the Indian American community while campaigning for the 2020 US presidential election.
"No, he did not say that. We have a very nonpartisan (approach to domestics US politics). So, our sort of approach to whatever happens in this country is their politics, not our politics," Jaishankar said.
"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 Sarkar"). So PM is talking about the past," said Jaishankar, refuting the Opposition's allegation that Modi was campaigning for Trump at the Houston rally.
Thanking Jaishankar for "covering up" Modi's "incompetence", the former Congress chief urged the foreign minister to teach the prime minister "a little bit about diplomacy".
"Thank you Mr Jaishankar for covering up our PM's incompetence. His fawning endorsement caused serious problems with the Democrats for India. I hope it gets ironed out with your intervention. While you're at it, do teach him a little bit about diplomacy," Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.