As India failed to clinch the NSG membership, the Congress on Friday termed the developments as an "embarrassment" to the country and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to realise that diplomacy requires "depth and seriousness and not public tamasha". The AAP also hit out with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he has "failed completely" on the foreign policy front.
"We do not know why India showed its desperation and allowed the country to be equated with Pakistan on the issue of NSG membership. It's high time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi realises that diplomacy requires gravitas, depth and seriousness. PM Modi needs to realise diplomacy needs depth not public tamasha. The world saw the PM make a spectacle of himself and India. Now India faces embarrassment unnecessarily," ," party's senior spokesman Anand Sharma said at AICC briefing.
The former Union Minister said the intense lobbying by Modi government was "unnecessary". "This kind of intense lobbying Prime Minister Modi and his government, we can understand should have done for the UN Security Council membership. When there is no obstacle when it comes to nuclear trade within the NSG countries, it was unnecessary,"he said.
The plenary meeting of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group ended on Friday without any decision on India's membership bid as divisions persisted over admitting non-NPT members with China leading the opposition to it.
Ahead of the meeting, India had pushed its case with a number of countries, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the charge. Modi had also met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent urging him to take a decision on India's membership on merit while seeking Beijing's support but China persistently opposed India's bid.
Kejriwal said that the Prime Minister owes an explanation about what he did during his "jaunts" abroad. "PM Modi has completely failed on foreign policy front. He owes explanation on what did he did on his foreign jauntsIJ" Kejriwal said on Twitter.
On some media reports claiming that Switzerland too has opposed India's bid to be a NSG member, the AAP leader suggested the development is indicative of Modi's visit to that country earlier this month not bearing fruit.
Switzerland President Johann Schneider-Ammann had on June 6 announced his country's backing to India's membership to the group after holding talks with Modi during the visit. "WhyIJ Didn't the PM visit Switzerland just a few days agoIJ" Kejriwal asked.