A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on freedom of thought and democracy in his virtual address to the G-7 nations, Congress leaders on Monday took a dig at the government.
Senior leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, in a series of tweets, said, “PM Modi’s speech at the G7 Outreach meeting is inspiring as well as ironic. The Modi government should practise in India what it preaches to the world,” he said.
It was ‘sad’ to note that Mr. Modi was the ‘only guest’ who was physically not present at the outreach meeting. “Ask yourself why? Because India is an outlier as far as the fight against Covid 19 is concerned. We are the most infected and least vaccinated country (as a proportion of the population),” he added.
On Sunday, Mr. Modi said India was a natural ally of the G-7 countries in defending democracy, freedom of thought and liberty from a host of threats stemming from authoritarianism, terrorism, violent extremism and economic coercion.
Former Law and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal targeted the government over its claims by tweeting, “G – 7. India signs off on joint statement: Reaffirms the values of ……” freedom of expression ,both online and offline…” Sign statements abroad. Violate them at home. Freedoms devalued: Internet shutdowns, sedition targeting: journalists, students, academics etc”.
