Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 21: Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar launched a scathing critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy on Tuesday, accusing the government of reducing diplomacy to a stage-managed display of personal gestures and superficial optics.

Speaking to reporters in the capital, Aiyar said India's international relations under the current regime have been dangerously “personalised,” pointing to repeated claims by former US President Donald Trump that he personally negotiated peace moves between India and Pakistan. “Foreign policy should never be made personal,” Aiyar asserted, adding that effective diplomacy must rely on the strength of institutions, not the charisma of a single leader.

Aiyar dismissed the BJP-led government's claims of historic achievements on the global stage, arguing that projecting diplomacy as a personal success story is a fundamental misstep. “Just by saying that Prime Minister Modi hugged the most leaders and made friends everywhere, we can't claim India has become number one in the world,” he remarked. “The entire foreign service should be used for building relationships — and the government must consult people who have experience in foreign policy.”

On the ongoing tensions surrounding oil imports from Russia and Trump’s recent tariff threats, Aiyar made a pointed clarification: “As per my information, public sector companies in the oil sector are no longer buying from Russia. Only private institutions are purchasing oil.”

In a separate jab, Aiyar responded with characteristic bluntness to questions about the record-setting lighting of 26 lakh diyas in Ayodhya during Deepotsav — an event hailed by the BJP as a cultural milestone and a celebration of Sanatan Dharma. “I am an atheist, so I have nothing to say,” he stated curtly.

Aiyar’s remarks underscore his longstanding disapproval of both the Modi government's foreign policy direction and the BJP's increasing invocation of religious symbolism in political discourse. His comments come amid heightened scrutiny of India’s foreign policy credibility and growing debates around the role of religion in governance ahead of the upcoming elections.