Sushma Swaraj's role has been diminished: Shakeel Ahmad

After accusing the Narendra Modi government of being "pro-corporate", Congress today alleged that the role of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been diminished.
"One gets to hear and read that Sushma Swaraj is the country's External Affairs Minister, but probably one does not get to actually see that she is the Foreign Minister. What is the work of an External Affairs Minister, it is to prepare all blueprint and go into details about the sensitive and other matters pertaining between two nations and try to work out their possible solutions," AICC General Secretary and party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad said at a press conference here.

He further said, "Barring one odd foreign visit, Sushma Swaraj has never accompanied Prime Minister Modi on his foreign visits as External Affairs Minister. Who then is performing the duty of External Affairs Minister? One person who is present in every trip with PM is a prominent industrialist. According to me, for all practical purposes, he is the actual foreign minister of India."
On the issue of graft, Ahmad accused the BJP-led NDA government of doing nothing.
"Most of the charges related to corruption against the UPA government were based on the reports of the CAG, which has also said the industrialist's (group) got benefit to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore. This report was laid in Gujarat Assembly," he claimed.

The Congress leader also accused Modi of "defaming" the country by raising domestic issues abroad and making remarks on how people earlier used to think what sin they commited to have been born in India.
"No prime minister has defamed India outside the country like Modi did. From Jawahar Lal Nehru to Manmohan Singh, nothing of this sort has ever happened. In a democratic set up, there are differences but no prime minister has derided the country abroad," he alleged.
On Modi and BJP making promises of 'Achhe Din' to the people before last year's polls, Ahmad took a dig, saying "Achhe din may have come for people like the industrialist who get loan at the rate of 2 per cent and bank chairman accompanies him. For those who wear Rs 10 lakh suit, achhe din have come".