New Delhi, Feb 22 (UNI) With a few days left for US President Donald Trump's visit to India, BJP on Saturday said the Congress was responsible if Indo-US relations did not improve in past 70 years and questioned why was the grand old party unhappy when India's stature is being raised globally.
'During the last 70 years, what were the deliverables to the US, this has been asked by President Trump many times in his own inimitable style. What more proof does Congress want that if Indo-US ties did not improve, then the party is responsible for it,' BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters here at a press conference at party headquarters here.
He asked 'why is the Congress Party unhappy when India's stature is being raised globally? Whenever there is happiness in the air, why is the Congress party unhappy?'
Dr Patra said today, when India's global footprint has increased in the world, in such a situation, Congress questioning the government does not suit the Opposition.
'Close cooperation with the White House has ensured that India remains the front and centre of Trump's White House strategic blueprint,' Dr Patra said.
'Today, India has been at the front or centre of any decision of the White House. It is a matter of pride for us,' he said.
He said this is a landmark moment in Indo-US ties but Congress is worried about its own sinking fortunes. 'My advice to Congress is - Start taking pride in the nation's achievements,' Dr Patra said.
He said 'there are some times which come in any nation when we keep aside our smaller identities as political parties and think as one nation.This is one such moment when one of the largest democracies in the world will be meeting one of the oldest democracies in the world.'
He said India and the US now regularly engage at the highest level through formats like two plus two and the mini two plus two enabling ministers and secretaries to be in close touch not with just their US counterparts, but with other US treaty allies like Japan, South Korea and Australia.
He questioned that 'Did 10 Janpath ever allow, even the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh to develop such rapport with his international colleagues?'
The BJP leader said able agreements like Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) and Information Security Agreement (ISA) with Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) are all to be signed shortly and are in the public domain.
He said the government has ensured that the US cutting across advanced sectors like defence and space now shares the latest tech with India and asked 'What are Congress' achievements?'
'The BJP takes this occasion of questioning the Congress Party what do they have to say in its defense. What did they achieve after 26/11?,' he asked.
Enlisting the achievements made by the Modi government, Dr Patra said,' We got the grey-listing of Pakistan through the FATF done.'
India and the US have worked together to ensure counter-terrorism cooperation which has reached a level never seen before, he said, adding that the designation of dreaded terrorists by International agencies including the UN is a very tangible outcome of this process.
'The trade deal and defense deal, we are seeing with the US today, we could not have imagined them at the time of UPA. Congress party today is questioning us rather than doing self inspection,' he maintained.
From trade deal that factors in India's interest to latest cutting-edge defense equipment, the US have offered deals and equipment which have never before been offered to India in the UPA era, he pointed out.
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