Obama should spend his energy complimenting India more than criticising, says former US official

Johnnie Moore, former commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious, has advised former US president Barack Obama to spend his energy complimenting India more than criticising the country.

“I think the former president (Obama) should spend his energy complimenting India more than criticising India. India is the most diverse country in human history. It’s not a perfect country, just like the US is not a perfect country, but its diversity is its strength… Even in that critique, President Obama couldn’t help but also compliment PM Modi, and I certainly understand why, having spent some time with him,” Moore said.

#WATCH | Reacting to former US President Barack Obama's remarks about the rights of Indian Muslims, Johnnie Moore, former Commissioner of US Commission on International Religious Freedom, says, "I think the former president (Barack Obama) should spend his energy complimenting… pic.twitter.com/227e1p17Ll

— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2023

This comes after Obama, in an interview to CNN, said, “If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility at some point that India starts pulling apart.”

“If the President (Biden) meets with PM Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority-Hindu India, that’s something worth mentioning,” Obama said, adding that addressing human rights with allies was always “complicated.”

His interview came just hours before PM Modi, who was on his first state visit to the US, was going to take questions at a joint press conference with US President Joe Biden.

Further, Moore said, “It wasn’t just a piece of history for India. It was a piece of history for the US as well (PM Modi’s visit to US)… Democracies are messy. This is the strength of democracy. It is in the basis of our diversity. India is an incredibly pluralistic country. It’s a country that fights for its democracy at every single election and democracy is alive and well in India and that certainly was the impression of the US Congress. PM Modi gave a gift to the US. He came here and brought Democrats and Republicans together. And that is the magic of democracy.”

(With inputs from ANI)

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