Don’t need to play every bad ball, India sovereign: VP on Trump’s jet remarks

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said India was a sovereign country and was not obliged to play every bad ball.

Advertisement

In veiled references to US President Donald Trump’s latest claim that five Indian jets were downed in the recent conflict with Pakistan, Dhankhar said no power on the planet can dictate India how to handle its affairs and all decisions of the country were taken as part of its sovereign right.

“We work in tandem, we have mutual respect, diplomatic dialogues. But at the end of the day, we are sovereign, we take our own decisions. Is it required to have wrestling sessions as to who said what?” asked VP, hours after the Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come clean on the claims by Trump.

The Vice-President advised not to be guided by narratives outside the country.

Addressing an event at the Vice-President’s Enclave today, Dhankhar asked, “Is it required to play every bad ball? Is it required to have wrestling sessions as to who said what?”

“One who scores good runs on the cricket pitch always leaves bad balls. They are tempting, but not attempted. And those who attempt, you have safe gloves of the wicket keeper and someone in the gully,” he said on indirect remarks targeted also at the opposition which has consistently questioned the government on the claims made by Trump, including on brokering the India and Pakistan ceasefire using trade as a prop.

Dhankhar was referring to India’s strong response to proxy terror following the Pahalgam attack.

“We have seen global conflagrations — two of them in particular. These have become open-ended. Look at the devastation of property, human lives and their misery. And look at our calibration. We taught a lesson — taught it well. We chose Bahawalpur and Muridke, and then brought it to a temporary conclusion. ‘Operation Sindoor’ is not over — it continues. Some people ask the question — why was it stopped? We are a nation that believes in peace, non-violence, a land of Buddha, Mahavira and Gandhi. We do not wish to kill even living beings — how can we target human beings? The idea was to generate sanity, to generate a sense of humanity in others,” he added.

The VP said India’s demographic dividend is a global envy as 65 per cent of domestic population is below 35 years and the median age of this country is 28, whereas that of China and the US is around 38-39, and Japan 48.

“No nation can boast or claim to be closer to us — 5,000 years of heritage, culture, legacy, knowledge, wisdom and repository,” said Dhankhar.