Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given three questions by the Congress party on Monday before he left for his trip to Russia. Though PM Modi's supporters believe he played a key role in stopping the war between Russia and Ukraine, Congress national secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned whether ties between the two nations had soured under his leadership.
While previous Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Russian President Vladimir Putin sixteen times during his administration, the Rajya Sabha MP asserted that PM Modi had only met Putin eleven times.
'While his propagandists make grand claims of having stopped the war between Russia and Ukraine, have relations between the two countries cooled off somewhat under Mr Modi’s watch,' asked the general secretary of the Congress.
Second, Ramesh said that while the import bill increased from $6.34 billion to $46.21 billion, India's exports to Russia decreased from $3.17 billion to $3.14 billion between FY14 and FY23. The 'vision' of Prime Minister Modi to enhance the trade balance between the two nations was questioned by him.
'Is the objective of the non-biological Prime Minister's meeting with President Putin to address this trade imbalance? 'What is his plan to enhance the trade equilibrium between the two nations?' he asked.
The general secretary of Congress also voiced reservations over the enlistment of Indians in the Russian Army. At least fifty people have signed up, he said, and two deaths have been recorded. He proposed that the poverty and unemployment crises in India are the reason why many of these people have been "duped" into fighting a war in which they have no personal stake.
'Many others have been ‘duped’ into fighting a war where they have no stake, aside from a chance to escape the poverty and unemployment crisis that the non-biological Prime Minister has perpetuated domestically,' Ramesh stated.
Monday marked the start of PM Modi's first trip to Russia following his election to a third term. After concluding his trip to Russia on July 9, Modi will go to Austria, which would be the first time an Indian prime leader has visited that country in over forty years.
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