Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already tied himself up in knots with his media outreach programme – so much so, that one ones wonders if he’ll have already abandoned his recent idea of weekly meetings with leading editors.
The problem stems from some off-the-record comments he made tied to his meeting with five print editors on June 29. In that meeting, he reportedly gave his assessment of the situation in Bangladesh, and stated that at least 25 percent of the population ‘swear by the Jamiat-e-Islami, and they are very anti-Indian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of (Pakistan’s) ISI.’
Compounding the problem, the Prime Minister’s Office posted his remarks on its official website on Wednesday, only to remove them a day later when leading Bangladeshi dailies went to town with his comments.
The Bangladeshi media reported that the country’s foreign office summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka on July 3 to protest Singh’s gaffe. India’s External Affairs Ministry, for its part, denied that the Indian envoy in Dhaka, Ranjeet Mitter, had been ‘summoned’ and described such reports as ‘speculative.’ MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash tweeted: ‘Our HC (High commissioner) in Dhaka 2 (to) meet BD (Bangladesh) FS (foreign secretary) 2day (today) to discuss forthcoming official visit of EAM (External Affairs Minister) to BD.’
This latest embarrassment has something of a déjà vu feeling to it, with Singh having drawn criticism last year when his off-the-record remarks on the threat China posed to India ended up being splashed across mainstream media.
This latest gaffe comes just ahead of an official visit to Bangladesh by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is scheduled to travel there on July 6. Singh himself, meanwhile, plans to visit Dhaka in September.
It’s a troubling sign when the government can’t even properly handle the prime minister’s encounters with the media. Is it losing control?
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Thomas
Singh is nothing more than an impotent corrupted political tool by the true powers over India…Sonia Gandhi and her Western masters!
MBI Munshi
The Indian Prime Minister was probably fed this nonsense about Bangladesh from his external intelligence agency RAW. They might have had something up their sleeve to blame on the Islamic parties and the ISI but actually engineered by RAW …… (i.e. a false flag operation)
commonsense
Far from losing control, it shows that policy makers know what they are dealing with. Manmohan Singh and those advising him are not novices who don’t know the value of some tough talk.The strategic establishment and military needs to be reassured that their concerns are shared by the government. And ‘off the record’ remarks are a rather useful means to do so in India.
S. Muralidharan
Though the remarks made by the PM of India are “off-the-cuff”, the neighbouring countries, obviously, would not take the PM’s remarks, so lightly! The press meet of the PM was mainly aimed at “face-lifting” the image of the UPA-II, after a series of scams unearthed, and the anti-corruption lobbying of civil societies, and the Government’s action and inaction against the civil societies have already dented the image of the Government very seriously. I don’t think the Bangladesh Government should be serious enough to read between the lines of the PM’s remarks, which was stated without corroborative evidence!
S. Muralidharan
Under Country’s Profile category, India’s profile is not updated. The statistics given are as old as 2008 and 2009. Between 2009 and 2011, India has played a major role in the international scene. This is time that the Editor gives a fresh look at every aspect and suitably update India’s profile!
Isaac Madhavan
Is it normal for senior aides to make such mistakes repeatedly? It seems a little strange to me.
Even a fresher to politics/government would know NOT to publish controversial statements, let alone staff who are used to the concept of Diplomacy – especially the Prime Minister’s staff/media advisers.
Frank
Sonia Gandhi is Indian’s Western master!
Like the saying. Cats need staff, Indians need masters.
Siddharth
@Frank- First of all, Sonia Gandhi is neither the ruler or master of India. She is not worshiped.
Secondly, we are waiting eagerly for her party to lose elections in 2014. We want a Nationalist government led by the BJP in power.
Thirdly, like India, China also has a colonial history. You were enslaved by Mongols, Huns, Manchus. So look at your end before giving such irrational, kiddish, illogical comments.
Siddharth
Frank, your comments regarding Indians just makes us laugh and wonder the low level of education among Chinese. Hahaha.
sona
frank and siddhartha
you are both indulging in unabashed racism
i have come across frank’s inane comments before and come to the conclusion that (s)he does not know what (s)he is saying – if (s)he knew, (s)he would understand the wisdom of silence
siddhartha, the majority in india did not vote for the bjp in the last two elections, so from my perspective, hopefully your wait will stretch eternity
Siddharth
@Sona – It was because COngress’ list scams were best kept secrets until recently.
Wait for 2014, Congress’ rule will not stretch eternity, largely due to those list of scams and failure to bring a strong Lokpal with the PM and CJI under its ambit!