New Delhi: After embarrassing the Bharatiya Janata Party government, admitting to a global audience in the US capital that India had acquiesced to US President Donald Trump’s demands to not buy Iranian and Russian oil and accepted the initial tariff of 50%, one of the most prominent faces of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Ram Madhav was forced to quickly backtrack and say he “was wrong.”
Earlier, speaking at an interactive session at the New India Conference organised by the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. in a panel discussion, Madhav had said; “India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran. We agreed to stop buying oil from Russia despite so much criticism from our opposition. India agreed to a 50% tariff without saying too much. So where exactly is India not doing enough to work with America?”
Ram Madhav’s initial admission of India giving in to the US assumes credence as he is regarded as the one in the RSS most qualified to speak on foreign affairs. His recent book, The Hindutva Paradigm, is seen as the latest exposition of the RSS’s world view, and burnishes Madhav’s credentials as the go-to person in the Sangh for ‘global affairs’.
Madhav, the president of The India Foundation, was once also seen as a rival to Narendra Modi in the Sangh universe before disassociating himself from an active role in the BJP.
Today, Madhav said he was “factually incorrect” and apologised.
“What I said was wrong. India didn’t agree to stopping import of oil from Russia anytime. Also, it vigorously protested 50% tariff imposition. I was trying to make a limited counterpoint to d [the] other panelist. But factually incorrect. My apologies.”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
