Rahul accuses PM of 'incompetence' for his 'Abki Baar Trump Sarkar' remark at Houston

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for his 'Abki Baar Trump Sarkar' remark at the "Howdy, Modi!" event, saying it reflected his "incompetence" and urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to teach some diplomacy to the PM.

He thanked Jaishankar for "covering up" Modi's "incompetence" and said it had caused serious problems with the Democrats for India.

The Congress also said the prime minister's remarks displayed his "childish behaviour" and were shocking, even as he urged Modi to take lessons in diplomacy from Foreign minister Jaishankar.

"Thank you Mr Jaishankar for covering up our PM's incompetence. His fawning endorsement caused serious problems with the Democrats for India. I hope it gets ironed out with your intervention. While you're at it, do teach him a little bit about diplomacy," Gandhi tweeted.

He also tagged a news report with his tweet quoting Jaishankar as saying what the prime minister had said at the "Howdy, Modi!" event in Houston recently should not be misinterpreted.

Jaishankar said India had adopted a non-partisan stand to domestic American politics and that Modi was merely repeating US President Donald Trump's words, which he had used to pitch his candidature to the Indian American community while campaigning for the 2020 US presidential election.

Later at the AICC briefing, Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said India has an external affairs policy and it is very clear that it does not interfere with the internal politics of any other country.

"It was very shocking, when, the prime minister of our country spoke in favour of a particular leader in his speech and at that relevant time very wisely and rightly Rahul Gandhi Ji warned that at the end, our country will be a loser. Tomorrow if another party will come to power, who will take care of our interests?" he asked.

Gohil said when it comes to external affairs policy the prime minister should understand it and take a lesson from Jaishankar.

"I am very happy that today Jaishankar has said on the same line, which Rahul Gandhi Ji has told in past. I will urge our prime minister that while doing the personal propaganda or in the interest of his own party and personality if he is doing something, he is free to do it but he is a prime minister of India.

"So, when it comes to external affairs policy, he should understand our external policy and take a lesson from the External Affairs minister. Today, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has to do some work just to save our interest and just to come out from the 'childish behavior' of our prime minister," he said.