Indian External Affairs Minister slams US for threatening with sanctions and raising human rights issues

Washington: – The United States is threatening India using the imposition of sanctions and raising the said issues of human rights violations as weapons. The United States feels that India will scrap its traditional cooperation with Russia with this. But Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar delivered a message that India does not heed the US threats saying that whether to impose sanctions against India is entirely the decision of the United States. At the same time, the External Affairs Minister also pointed out to the United States that if the issues of human rights violations in India can be raised, India too has the right to speak regarding the human rights violations in the United States.

Moreover, the External Affairs Minister Jaishankar gave fitting replies to the objections raised by the United States over the cooperation with Russia during the Two-Plus-Two talks. Jaishankar criticized the US media for opposing the Indian decision to buy fuel from Russia. The amount of fuel purchased by the European countries from Russia in a day is much more than India purchased in a whole month. The External Affairs Minister had reprimanded the people raising these questions and said they should be more concerned.

Jaishankar put his finger on the dual-faced policies of the United States during the joint press conference with the US Secretaries of State and Defence. This did not go down well with the United States. The US Secretary of State attempted to express his displeasure saying that the United States monitors the said trampling of human rights in India. The US Secretary of State also made a suggestive statement that the decision on whether to impose sanctions against India, which is maintaining fuel and other cooperation with Russia, has still not been made. This was a veiled threat that the United States could impose sanctions against India.

The United States had threatened to impose sanctions against India under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchasing the S-400 air defence system from Russia. The US lawmakers are demanding that India should be given concessions under this act. At the same time, the US Secretary of State is trying to point out that the problems can be increased for India, raising the issues of the said trampling of human rights in India. But Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar once again pointed out the reality to the United States during an independent press conference held in the United States.

Whether to impose sanctions against India for cooperating with Russia is an entirely internal issue of the United States. This is a US law and the decision to set it also has to be taken by the United States. Jaishankar said that India would take appropriate steps for safeguarding its interests without paying any heed to these sanctions. Jaishankar seems to have expressed that India does not care for the US sanctions diplomatically. At the same time, Jaishankar pointed out to the United States that if the United States was to raise the said trampling of human rights in India, India to has the right to speak about the human rights situation in the United States. Jaishankar pointed out that India will raise the issues of Lobbies and vote bank politics in the United States.

Recently, two members of the Sikh community were attacked in the United States. Jaishankar showed the mirror to the United States, reminding about this incident.