UN doesn’t need to teach us that elections should be fair and free: Jaishankar, EAM S
S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, disregarded a top UN official’s recent comments on India’s elections on Thursday, stating that he did not need the international organization to inform him that the nation’s elections should be “free & fair.”
His remarks were in response to a question on a statement made by a UN Secretary General spokeswoman expressing the “hope” that everyone is allowed to vote in a “free & fair” environment and that people’s “political and civil rights” be upheld in India.
Additionally, Jaishankar said that the MEA had summoned the Russian ambassador in response to young people being persuaded to enlist in the Russian army and had threatened to take “toughest legal action” against anyone who “duped” them.
We are quite concerned about this and feel strongly about it. We summoned the envoy of Russia. The foreign ministry was to be consulted by our ambassador in Moscow. During a media conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Jaishankar said, “It is completely unacceptable that any Indian should be taken to a conflict zone and in any way be made to work for a conflict, for an army.”
The minister said that attempts were being made to determine the exact number of Indian youngsters who had been enlisted in the Russian army, but the government did not have a set figure at this time. We’re counting the number of these Indians. We’re working to reunite with them. I realize that some individuals have returned even in the last few days, but we take this extremely seriously and vehemently,” he said. “I can assure you that this matter will face the worst judicial punishment. This is just terrible, in my opinion,” he said.
The chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, wrote to Jaishankar last month to ask for help in repatriating three citizens of Kerala who said they were tricked into joining the Russian army. Thus far, two Indians have lost their lives in the Ukrainian combat zone.
MEA avoids the Kachchatheevu dispute
The MEA chose to highlight Jaishankar’s recent remarks rather than getting involved in the controversy surrounding the 1974 handover of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka.
When questioned at a press conference about concerns with PM Modi and Jaishankar bringing up the matter fifty years after it was resolved, MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal cited remarks made by S Jaishankar on the matter.
