Countries that expressed concerns over suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks against Prophet Muhammad appreciated that it wasn’t the government position, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at the CNN-News18 Town Hall on Saturday.
Jaishankar said the remarks did not reflect the views of either the BJP or the government and that the party took clear action on the issue.
“What was said what not the position of the party. The party made it very clear and took action. Some countries had concerns on it. They deal with us, we are their image of India. Countries who had concerns do appreciate that this was not the government’s position," the minister said.
“We have to be very clear about what we stand for and the party has done that," he added.
Besides suspending Sharma, the BJP had also expelled the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal for similar derogatory comments.
The comments had triggered violent protests in parts of India and countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran, had lodged diplomatic protests.
The External Affairs Ministry had said in a statement that the offensive comments did not, in any way, reflect the views of the government.
“Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies…It is regrettable that OIC Secretariat has yet again chosen to make motivated, misleading and mischievous comments," said spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
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