EAM Reminds About 'Defending National Interest' as Rahul Gandhi Questions 'Arrogant' Foreign Service

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday tore into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for calling the Indian Foreign Service “arrogant” and said it was “confidence and defending national interest” instead.

Gandhi, while speaking at an event organised by non-profit think-tank Bridge India in London, said several bureaucrats from Europe had told him that the Indian Foreign Service had “changed completely”. “They are arrogant, they don’t listen to anything. Now they are just telling us what orders they are getting,” Gandhi said.

Jaishankar, who has been at the forefront of positioning India as a strong nation in the global order by articulating the country’s concerns and stand on critical issues as well as calling out the hypocrisy of the West, took to Twitter to respond to the Congress leader.

Tagging a video of Gandhi, Jaishankar said: “Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, its not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence. And it is called defending National Interest.”

A former low-key foreign secretary, the career diplomat was far removed from active politics and was a surprise choice for the role of external affairs minister. However, his repartee and ability to call a spade a spade has helped cement India’s position in the global order.

The minister has earlier too defended India’s position on the world platform. Addressing a joint news conference with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with their American counterparts Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, after the conclusion of the 2+2 ministerial, Jaishankar said India’s total purchase of oil from Russia in a month is probably less than what Europe does in an afternoon.

Defending India’s energy imports from Russia amid the Ukraine war, the minister said: “I noticed you refer to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe. We do buy some energy, which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon.”

He earned praise again for showing the West a mirror after Blinken said his country was monitoring “a rise in human rights abuses in India by some officials”.

“Look, people are entitled to have views about us. But we are also equally entitled to have views about their views and about the interests, and the lobbies and the vote banks which drive that. So, whenever there is a discussion, I can tell you that we will not be reticent about speaking out. I would tell you that we also take our views on other people’s human rights situation, including that of the United States. So, we take up human rights issues when they arise in this country, especially when they pertain to our community. And in fact, we had a case yesterday…that’s really where we stand on that,” he said, referring to the recent attacks on Indians in America.

The minister also reminded Europe that when a “rules-based order” was under threat in Asia, the advice from the West was to do more trade, but India at least was not giving that advice with regard to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

At the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar said: “`There are equally pressing issues in other parts of the world like Afghanistan and challenges in Asia…when rules-based order was under threat in Asia, the advice we got from Europe was to do more trade. At least we are not giving you that advice. On Afghanistan, please tell me which part of the rules-based order justifies what the world did there.”

Jaishankar insisted that no country wanted to see the practical consequences of the conflict like higher energy prices, food inflation and other disruptions, adding that there will be no winner in this conflict.

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