Congress cautions PM Narendra Modi over remarks on national security

Anand Sharma said that the government should stop politicising the action of armed forces for narrow political gains

Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues over their remarks regarding national security.

"It's sad that both the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister have deliberately made misleading statements giving an impression that this was the first time the Indian Army had taken action against cross-border terror attack in three decades," Sharma told reporters here.

He said such a claim was an insult to the Indian Army, which had firmly retaliated against all such attacks in the past.

Coming out in support of the previous Congress-led UPA, he said: "The armed forces always had the freedom to effectively respond when required and had the support of the previous government to do so."

Former union minister Sharma, who belongs to this town, said the UPA government in its wisdom decided not to claim political ownership and make loud announcements.

"Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement, therefore, is an insult to the martyrs of the army, including the Kargil heroes," he said.

Urging the Prime Minister and the government to stop politicising the action of armed forces for narrow political gains, Sharma said the government was indulging in this propaganda to divert the attention of the people from its failures.

"The weak GDP in the first quarter of the current financial year raises serious concern over the state of the Indian economy, despite government efforts at inflating figures," he said.

On foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, Sharma said: "The government itself informed Parliament on July 20, 2016, that India received FDI of $40 billion in 2015-16.

"The highest FDI India received was $46.56 billion in 2011," Sharma said. 

"It is equally a matter of concern that only 24 of the FDI received in the last two years has been in manufacturing whereas service share of the FDI is 78 per cent," he said.