New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has condemned Rahul Gandhi’s recent comment comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s memory to that of United States President Joe Biden.
Terming the Congress leader’s remarks as ‘unfortunate’, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that such statements do not reflect the warm relationship between India and the US.
“India shares a multi-faceted partnership with the United States. This partnership has been built over years of perseverance, togetherness, mutual respect and commitment by both sides. We see such remarks as unfortunate and they are not in keeping with the warm and friendly ties with the United States and do not represent the position of the government of India,” Jaiswal said during the weekly briefing on Friday.
Addressing an election rally in Maharashtra’s Amravati earlier this month, Rahul had said PM Modi appeared to be suffering “memory loss” like the “former President” of the US — an obvious reference to Biden, who is actually the outgoing President as he will be in office till President-elect Donald Trump takes oath on January 20.
The Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition was also criticised by a group of medical practitioners, who said Rahul’s comments suggested a lack of sensitivity.
In a letter to Rahul’s mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the National Medicos Organisation Bharat (NMO-Bharat) president CB Tripathi stated that the Congress leader’s comments perpetuate harmful stereotypes about ageing and cognitive health.
“Such statements on a public platform risk perpetuating misinformation, potentially shaping public perceptions in ways that could negatively impact the understanding and treatment of actual patients… It is disappointing to see Rahul Gandhi comment so crudely about a foreign head of state who is much senior and older than him. This flies right in the face of our Indian ethos of respecting our elders. Such remarks are unbecoming of a leader of the opposition and suggest a lack of understanding and sensitivity,” Tripathi wrote.
There has been no response from the Congress party yet.
