Salman Khurshid terms Trump's visit to India as 'hollow'

As US President Donald Trump's maiden two-day visit to India concluded on Tuesday evening without major announcements on trade and security, Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid termed the visit as 'hollow'. In conversation with senior journalist Amit Agnihotri, Khurshid termed the Namaste Trump event as a 'hollow-sounding spectacle' and stressed on the fact that US President's visit to India was 'unproductive'.

New Delhi:As US President Donald Trump wrapped up his two-day visit to India on Tuesday evening, without major announcements on trade and security, Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid termed the entire visit as 'hollow'.

Taking a dig at BJP-led central government, Congress leader Salman Khurshid termed the 'Namaste Trump' event as a 'hollow-sounding spectacle', while stressing on the fact that US President's visit to India was 'unproductive'.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Everybody is going gaga over the visit of the US President Donald Trump. The Modi government is citing huge foreign policy gains from the trip. How do you assess its impact?

Well, I think it is a bit hollow to bring out the cheerleaders, spend a lot of money and have a lot of colour. It is good for a nation’s ego to have some of the top foreign leaders come and look so friendly, which he does, but after all that is over, you need to sit down and do the sums and find out what you wanted and what you have got. I think there is not much to show for it. I think this government is quite comfortable with hollow-sounding things, something which sounds high decibels but has nothing inside. And that is how I would describe this meeting. Good for Trump.

Was President Trump’s visit about the coming US Presidential elections? Some people are saying he is concerned about his own elections. Your comments!

Of course, he is... He has got six months and is concerned about it. Nations don’t tie up with individuals, nations tie-up with people and I hope that we have that link with the people of the United States. We did have problems with the US in the past. We have not agreed with its view of the world and we have not agreed with some of its policies. And that is why there was an estrangement between the two great democracies. But if we have good relations with them nobody can complain, we are very happy with that. But what do that close relations bring us is a big question. I don’t see much coming.

Regarding India’s relations with other countries like China, the UK, Australia, Israel, is PM Modi’s image of a strong leader helping boost our global standing?

Is that happening? Who talks to us? Who says we will talk to India before we decide what to do with Jerusalem. Does the same US President ask us what to do with Jerusalem? Is he on the phone asking us what to do when the Chinese decide they want to build a road etc? Does he talk to us when he says Pakistan is a friend? Where are the gains and where is the investment that we were promised? I am not quite sure that we have gained anything. Are the Chinese comfortable, are the Japanese comfortable about what we are doing with the Chinese? It is good for people to continue to support India but that has not happened in four or five years. That is a long saga and there is a lot that happened. Before we blow the whistle about how wonderful our relations are between President Trump and Mr Modi, let us not forget the days when former US president John Kennedy walked with Jawaharlal Nehru. Let us not forget when Jaqueline Kennedy was specially sent to India. There is a lot that happened in this country that Mr Modi does not seem to know.

So did India’s image change drastically over the past few years?

Well, India’ standing has always been high. Don’t forget that we were at the forefront of the non-aligned movement (NAM). There were three countries Yugoslavia, Egypt and India. Our standing was high when we became leading member of BRICS and became the senior-most and the most important country in the SAARC region. Our movements in the ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific all happened before Mr Modi. So that he has not lost it is a thing that we thank him for but given what was happening in Delhi while President Trump was here and what was happening elsewhere, I hope we don’t lose that image.

Interestingly, when President Trump visited the Sabarmati Ashram, he thanked the PM for the visit but made no mention of Mahatma Gandhi? How would you respond?

It is very sad. Somebody did not brief the President or his mind is not on the vision of that remarkable person the whole world cherishes. I see very little in Trump’s politics which suggests that he is fond of Mahatma Gandhi.

How do you see the India- Pakistan relations moving forward given that country seems to be the focal point of the centre’s foreign policy?

Well, I don’t know…do we want to fight Pakistan, do we want to crush Pakistan or ignore Pakistan or protect ourselves from Pakistan.

There are often claims that the government will reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after removing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Does that sound real?

Nobody is saying don’t do it. Why are you threatening us saying we will do this, we will do that? Just go and do it. We passed a unanimous resolution in Parliament. Just read it and go ahead. But we have to think one step ahead. What will you do with those guys when you reclaim Pok? Are they going to be very nice friendly citizens of the country or a nuisance?

Coming to the South-Asian region, have we made better progress?

Well, SAARC has disappeared. I think the kind of confidence and sincere support we could have got in the neighbourhood, there are some reservations. And that is sad. But if our relations continue to be good we will all celebrate that irrespective of who gets the credit.

What should be the Modi government’s foreign policy goals?

Well, first of all to have a foreign policy…a foreign policy to advance our own interests. The philosophical content of our foreign policy has always been admired by the world. We can’t be a great military power like Russia, America or China. But we can be a greater power than them in terms of cultural influence. Why don’t we aim for that? This chest-beating is not the best thing to do.