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Rahul Gandhi taunts Modi, saying Rubio has ‘summoned his employee’ S. Jaishankar to Mumbai.
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Congress questions why US ambassador Sergio Gor announced Jaishankar’s expected meeting before MEA.
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MEA confirms bilateral talks between Rubio and Jaishankar for 20 October.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 16 October taunted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s upcoming meeting with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai, suggesting that the American official was treating the Indian minister as a subordinate.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote: ‘Mr Rubio has summoned his employee to Mumbai. Modi ji, your officials in the External Affairs Ministry are confused about what’s going on. You might want to explain. Unless, of course, you want me to.’
The closing line gave the post a sharper edge, suggesting that Gandhi was hinting at information he could make public while challenging Modi to explain the circumstances surrounding the meeting. He did not, however, specify what he might reveal.
Gandhi’s remark was an apparent reference to the circumstances surrounding the announcement of Rubio’s meeting with Jaishankar, which has become a point of contention between the Congress and the government.
The controversy began after US ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Thursday that Rubio would meet Indian government officials in Mumbai and that Washington expected Jaishankar to join the discussions.
“We expect that minister Dr S. Jaishankar will be there along with other individuals from Delhi, who will make a trip up there to see him in Mumbai,” Gor said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
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