New Delhi: The government and the Congress were embroiled in a spat on Sunday over the supply of oxygen to two foreign missions in New Delhi, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar accusing the main opposition party of indulging in “cheap publicity”
The Indian diplomatic corps is being increasingly used for partisan purposes.
May 03, 2021
Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar signs the guest book, at the U.S. Department of State, in Washington, DC, on December 18, 2019.
Credit: Flickr/U.S. Department of State
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To work toward an era of global leadership, India needed to focus on building national power and state capacity. The apocalyptic second wave of COVID-19 has brutally exposed the limits of both. But far from stepping up to the challenge, Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar has made everything worse.
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) has long been revered for its professionalism, especially in diplomatic communication. Indian diplomats have long been masters of the spoken word, using it effectively to execute delicate balancing acts around the world. Ever since his term in office began two years ago, Jaishankar – who spent long decades in the IFS himself – has been b
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NEW DELHI, MAY 2
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday advised all diplomatic missions not to hoard essential supplies following a twitter spat between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over Youth Congress leaders responding to emergency appeals for help from two diplomatic missions.
MEA officials are in continuous touch with all embassies and responding to their medical demands. “Given the pandemic situation, all are urged not to hoard essential supplies, including oxygen,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi after the dust had settled on the controversy that began on Saturday night.
Jaishankar had responded to a tweet from Ramesh that the “youth wing of the opposition party is attending to SOS calls from foreign embassies”. It was backed by a video of oxygen cylinder-laden trucks entering the Philippines embassy on Saturday night.
A newsletter on politics and policy from Scroll.in. May 03, 2021 · 09:48 am
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The Big Story: Plot hole
Did the Indian government fail to act in time to contain the massive second wave of Covid-19 because the top leaders of the ruling party were more focused on an election campaign in West Bengal – in which it would eventually be handed an enormous defeat?
Narrative is important to Narendra Modi. Indeed, it is all encompassing. For the Indian prime minister, no public appearance is a one-off. No speech is routine. A banal flyover inauguration is an opportunity to attack the Opposition for its failures in the past. A visit by a foreign leader is portrayed as recognition of India’s growing stature, powered single-handedly by the prime minister. The end of an election campaign is a chance to be photographed meditating in