Chandigarh: A day after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-nation trip as “irresponsible” and “unwarranted,” Mann doubled down in the Punjab state assembly Friday, asserting his right to question India’s foreign policy.
“The MEA has reacted to my statement. Don’t we have the right to question the MEA about our foreign policy? Which countries are you visiting? Do those countries support us later? When our relations with Pakistan went sour, not a single nation supported us. Why are you taking rounds of the world?” Mann asked during his speech.
Earlier, Mann, Thursday, told the press, “God knows which countries he [Modi] keeps visiting—‘Magnesia,’ ‘Galveaisa,’ ‘Tarvesia’ … countries where the population is 10,000. In India, 10,000 people gather to watch a JCB machine,” drawing criticism from the MEA. The controversy, however, continued Friday.
Not one to back down, Mann repeated in the assembly, “The nations the PM visits, we haven’t even heard of—‘Magnesia,’ ‘Talvesia,’ ‘Galveaisa.’ We don’t know where these countries are, yet the PM is receiving their highest honours. Their population is 9,500. I only said that many people stop to watch a JCB in India. The PM should stay here, where the population is 140 crore, and solve their problems.”
“If you can stop the Russia-Ukraine war, why can’t you stop the fight between Punjab and Haryana? The PM doesn’t want the fight to stop; he wants it to go on forever. Haryana is our younger brother. This is a big political game, which is getting exposed,” Mann added.
“Our people are fighting over drinking water and sewage, and you’re talking about Chandrayaan,” he added, critiquing Modi’s focus on the Moon mission. “First, fulfil the basic needs of our people, give us our fundamental rights, then you can go and become Vishwaguru.”
“[The PM wants] to become Vishwaguru, but they don’t even send him invitations to swearing-in ceremonies. He goes around uninvited. It seems when the PM’s plane flies over a nation, he asks, ‘What nation is this?’ and says, ‘Let’s land there,’” Mann said, as assembly members burst into laughter.
“The PM can get off in any country. He went to Pakistan, had biryani, and came back. But we cannot go there; he can,” Mann said, referring to Modi’s 2015 visit to Lahore. He added, “Punjab gets orders on when to have good relations with Pakistan and when to stop.”
“Diljit Dosanjh’s film included a Pakistani artist months before the unfortunate Pahalgam incident, and the shooting for the film ended long ago, but the film is yet to be released, claiming that he’s a traitor. Sometimes we’re Sardars, sometimes we’re gaddars [traitors]. You’ll give us certificates of patriotism? We’re sick of these games,” Mann said, referring to criticism of Diljit Dosanjh’s unreleased film Sardaar Ji 3, reportedly starring Pakistani actor Hania Aamir.
Mann’s speech came during a discussion on a resolution to withdraw the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) deployed at the Bhakra Nangal Dam, amid the Punjab-Haryana water dispute. Mann called the CISF presence symbolic of the Centre’s interference in Punjab’s riparian rights.
Responding to Mann’s initial remarks, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X on 10 July: “We have seen comments by a high state authority about India’s relations with friendly countries from the Global South. These remarks are irresponsible and regrettable, and do not befit the state authority. The Government of India disassociates itself from such unwarranted comments that undermine India’s ties with friendly countries.”
Addressing a press conference after the end of the Friday’s proceedings, Mann, however, defended himself, saying, “I want to know what he [Modi] went for—what did he achieve? Wherever he goes, Adani starts doing business there. This means someone is taking him there. Why not admit you’re going to help someone with their business deals? I will question this. It’s my right. No nation supported us against Pakistan, and the PM has taken three rounds of the world.”
Responding to a separate question on an FIR against cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Harpal Cheema by Chandigarh Police on the complaint of Congress politician and Punjab assembly Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Mann said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had once been declared “tadipar”, and still, held such a key post now. “Let FIRs be lodged against us. We don’t care, even if they arrest us,” he added.
Reacting to Mann’s statements against the PM and the HM, BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said in a video message that the Punjab CM spoke like a power-drunk man.“When a person’s shadow starts becoming larger than his stature, it means the Sun is about to set. When a person’s tongue becomes longer than his status, it means the downfall of that person has begun,” said Jakhar.
PM Modi returned to India Thursday from a five-nation tour from 2–9 July to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia, including the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Four of the five nations—Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and Namibia—conferred their highest civilian awards on Modi.
Since returning to power for a third term in June 2024, Modi has received 13 awards from other countries, including the Order of St Andrew from Russia, the Order of Freedom from Barbados, and the Order of Mubarak the Great from Kuwait.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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