US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday said he is familiar with the values that vibrant democracies that India and US shares but not with the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I’m not familiar with the documentary you’re referring to, however, I am very familiar with the shared values that enact the United States and India as two thriving and vibrant democracies,” Ned Price told a reporter who wanted to know the state department spokesperson’s reaction to the documentary which has sparked controversy in India, according to news agency ANI.
Price said that economic and political elements coupled with deep people-to-people ties bolster the US-India global strategic partnership. “I’m not familiar with the documentary you’re referring to. I am very familiar with the shared values that enact the United States and India as two thriving, vibrant democracies. When we have concerns about actions that are taken in India, we’ve voiced those when we’ve had an occasion to do so,” Price was quoted as saying.
Price said that the US looks to elements that bind Washington and Delhi together and tries to reinforce them to further strengthen the relationship between both democracies.
International detractors of the Prime Minister Modi have tried to use the documentary to direct unfair criticism towards the Prime Minister but these moves have failed to have their desired effect.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was another world leader who distanced himself from the BBC documentary. Sunak said he does not agree with the characterisation depicted in the documentary.
Sunak’s comment came after Pakistan-origin MP Imran Hussain raised the issue in the UK parliament. “The UK government’s position on this has been clear and longstanding and hasn’t changed, of course, we don’t tolerate persecution where it appears anywhere but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterisation that the honourable gentleman has (been subjected to),” Sunak said while responding to the documentary, news agency ANI reported.
The BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi is a two-part series attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots. It has been removed from select platforms after it sparked outrage.
“We think this is a propaganda piece. This has no objectivity. This is biassed. Do note that this hasn’t been screened in India. We don’t want to answer more on this so that this doesn’t get much dignity,” the MEA said, accusing the BBC of possessing a colonial mindset.
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