'They think they are political players in our elections': Jaishankar slams Western media's coverage of Indian democracy
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar came down heavily on the Western media over its coverage of Indian democracy, asserting that their disapproval arises from a misplaced sentiment that they are political players in our elections, media reports said.
"I get a lot of these noises from the Western press and if they criticize our democracy, it's not because they lack information. It is because they think they are also political players in our election," Jaisharkar said, reported ANI.
The minister highlighted an article in Western media that criticised India's choice to hold elections during a heatwave.
"Now I read that article and I wanted to say listen, in that heat my lowest turnout is higher than your highest turnout in the best run," Jaishankar quipped, according to the report.
Jaishankar remarked that such comments reflect intrusion and are purely politically motivated.
Jaishankar accused that “these are the games that are being played with India”.
"These are politics. These are our domestic politics which is going global, global politics which feels they must now intrude in India. How can these chaps decide who should be ruling them without consulting us?" he said, the report said.
"They (West) actually think they are part of our electorate? ... I think it's time today that we disabuse them and the best way that we do that, is by confidence," the minister said.
"They will question your election system, your EVM, your election commission, even the weather ... And one complaint is ... BJP is so unfair, BJP thinks it's going to win very big," he said, adding that, in a kind of way, today, we are at a very important inflexion point.
“We need to stand up to these kinds of attacks and criticisms and rankings and reports because they will question everything,” the minister said.
Jaishankar said that the decisions the government will make are not merely for the next five years but will also provide a big vote of confidence for our nation, our society, and the generations to come.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
