’If I had a conversation with PM Modi...’: Obama, hours before Modi-Biden statement

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, June 23, 2023: Just hours before a joint press statement by US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former US President Barack Obama, in an interview on Thursday (US local time), said that Biden should mention the issue of "protection of Muslim minorities" in India, during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Further, Obama said that if he had a conversation with Modi, he would discuss the rights of ethnic minorities in India and what would happen if their rights were not protected.

“If I had a conversation with Mr Modi – who I know well – part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart. And we have seen what happens when you start getting those kinds of large internal conflicts. That would be contrary to the interests of India,” he said in an interview with CNN.

"The protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India – that’s something worth mentioning," he said.

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate on Thursday shared a clip from the interview featuring Barack Obama.

PM ON MINORITIES IN INDIA

Meanwhile, at a press conference at the White House in Washington, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “there is absolutely no space for discrimination” in India.

PM Modi’s statement came in response to a question by a journalist about the steps being taken by the government to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities.

PM Modi also said that “democracy runs in our veins”, during a joint press statement with President Joe Biden.

“We are a democracy... India and America both have democracy in our DNA. Democracy is in our spirit and we live it and it’s written in our Constitution. There is absolutely no space for discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed or religion,” PM Modi said, speaking about the rights of ethnic minorities in India.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted PM Modi for a State dinner, an honor typically reserved for the closest allies of the US.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a three-day state visit to the United States, where he received a rousing welcome from the expat Indians.

Courtesy: India Today