India upset at ‘unnecessary’ reference to Modi by US

New Delhi, November 24

India is upset at a reference to PM Narendra Modi by a US State Department official while defending the immunity it had extended to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is facing allegations of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I fail to understand how the comment on PM Modi was either relevant, necessary or contextual,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said responding to questions on a US official referring to Modi while explaining the reasons for granting immunity to the Saudi ruler.

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel cited PM Modi’s example when talking about immunity to the Saudi crown prince. “This is not the first time that the US has done this. “Some examples: President Aristide in Haiti in 1993, President Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 2001, PM Modi in India in 2014 and President Kabila in the DRC in 2018. This is a consistent practice that we have afforded to heads of state,” he had said.