Punjab CM Mann again questions PM Modi foreign visits: ‘He can go to Pakistan, but we cannot'
'It seems that when the PM is flying in his plane, he looks down and asks, 'Which country is that?' When told it's so-and-so, he says, 'No worries, we will reach an hour late where we are going; let's land here now.' He decides to land just anywhere. That's how he landed in Pakistan too,' Mann, a comedian-turned-politician, said in Punjabi in the state assembly on Friday.
Mann referred pointedly to PM Modi's 2015 surprise visit to Pakistan to meet the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif.
Also read: MEA slams Punjab CM Mann's 'Magnesia, Tarvesia' jibe on Modi
'The PM decided, just like that, to visit Pakistan. He had biryani and came back. We cannot go to Pakistan, but he can land there!' Mann remarked.
In 2015, Modi was returning home after a visit to Russia and a halt in Afghanistan when he decided to make a stop in Pakistan too.
No effect of MEA rebuke
CM Mann had made similar comments about PM Modi's visits at a function earlier this week, after which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, without naming Mann, that the comments were 'irresponsible and regrettable'.
Outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday, Mann was asked specifically about the MEA response, to which he replied: 'Do I not have the right to ask about foreign policy?'
Also read: Punjab CM defends Diljit's 'Sardaarji 3' with Hania Aamir
He added, "I will continue to ask in the future as well. With 140 crore people in the country, he should engage with them and address their concerns. He says he will stop the Ukraine(-Russia) war, but he can't even resolve water issues between Punjab and Haryana."
Mann had joked about how PM Modi might be visiting random, non-existent countries like 'Magnesia', 'Galveaisa', or 'Tarvesia', suggesting that his visits are not substantial.
Defends Diljit's movie
Inside the House on Friday, Mann was acerbic as he defended Diljit Dosanjh over the casting of a Pakistani actor, Hania Aamir, in his latest movie 'Sardaarji 3'. That is when he brought up Modi's Pakistan visit.
Diljit's movie, he stressed, had been shot before the Pahalgam terror attack, after which India carried out Operation Sindoor against teror bases in Pakistan.
Mann said no one could 'issue certificates of patriotism'. He also had "a message for the entire country', that 'without Punjab and Haryana, you cannot eat' as the two states 'account for 70 per cent of the country's foodgrain production'.
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