Modi counters May on state of Indian prisons

Freedom fighters, Gandhi held by British in the same jails, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by his British counterpart Theresa May at the official welcome ceremony for the Commonwealth meet in London. File photo

British courts must not lecture India about the condition of Indian jails, Prime Minister Modi told British Prime Minister Theresa May, adding that they are the very same jails where freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru were imprisoned during the British Raj, according to an account of the meeting shared by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Ms. Swaraj divulged the contents of what appeared to be an explosive conversation between Mr. Modi and Ms. May on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit in April for the first time, during her annual press conference on Monday.

According to Ms. Swaraj, the two leaders were discussing the problem of Indian fugitives like Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi, based in the United Kingdom. In December 2017, Mr. Mallya’s lawyer defending him in the extradition case on charges of fraud worth $1.4 billion, had raised the issue of Indian jails being “worse than in Russia”.

“ [Mr. Modi told Ms. May] that these are the same jails where the British kept Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru and other Indian leaders, so your courts have no right to ask about those jails today,” Ms. Swaraj retorted to a question about on whether she believed the government would be successful in bringing Mr. Mallya back to India to stand trial.

The British High Commission did not respond to questions about the content or veracity of Ms. Swaraj’s claim.

Using Twitter

There were several heated moments in Ms. Swaraj’s 90 minute press conference, held once a year to defend the NDA’s foreign policy. In particular, Ms. Swaraj reacted sharply when asked why she used social messaging site Twitter to order Indian ambassadors to issue passports and visas to Indians, Pakistanis and other nationalities.

“Ask people from around India and those stranded abroad about my Twitter policy. Insensitive people can make fun of my efforts, but that day when someone in their home is stuck, they will understand the importance of Twitter,” Ms Swaraj shot back.

On a question about the Congress party’s allegation that Indian foreign policy is run by the Prime Minister’s Office, not by her, Ms. Swaraj replied, “If I didn’t know foreign policy, then how have I been answering all your questions?”