“You question me like a Congress spokesperson,” says rattled Sushma to journo

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday took a jibe at a journalist who questioned her on the allegations levelled by Congress over the foreign policy failures in the first four years of the Narendra Modi government.

“You question me as if you are the Congress spokesperson. But it is a good thing,” retorted Swaraj at the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) annual press conference in Delhi, when asked what she thought about the accusations levelled by Congress in its booklet 'India Betrayed', released on the fourth anniversary of the Modi government on May 26.

“In the booklet, Congress talked about forty failures in four years of the Modi government. Four of these failures are connected to the Ministry of External Affairs,” said the scribe from Dainik Bhaskar to Swaraj.

The Congress’ has accused the current government of flip-flopping on its policy towards Pakistan, undermining India’s “time-tested” friendship with Russia and letting China establish itself on the Doklam Plateau, billing them as major flaws in India’s foreign policy.

Besides, the main Opposition party says that the external affairs ministry has moved to the PMO and Swaraj has been relegated to just handling MEA’s Twitter account.

Taking exception to the allegations, Swaraj replied in defence, “It is a major success of our foreign policy that Pakistan has been isolated on the world stage. The entire international community is pressuring Pakistan. That is why it is a big win for the foreign policy of the current government.”

Swaraj went on to say that one needed to look at the visuals of the recent informal summit in Sochi between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and PM Modi. She said, “If Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could spare time for an informal summit despite being busy with other engagements, and Prime Minister Modi visits Russia for a day, despite hectic commitments, that says a lot in itself.”

She rejected Congress’ charges on Doklam, saying that status quo had prevailed on the disputed plateau since the 73-day standoff last year.

The foreign minister seems to have been most rattled by the charge that it was PM Modi was driving India’s foreign policy, and she had been confined to Twitter.

“It (Twitter) has helped mainstream foreign policy into everyday lives of Indians, which wasn’t the case during Congress’ time at the helm,” she said. “If these insensitive people want to make fun of it, then let it be. But it has been of great help to Indians who have found themselves stuck in difficult situations overseas,” said Swaraj.