Indian Prime Minister’s controversial remarks prompt #ModiInsultsIndia
Narendra Modi triggers outrage by suggesting Indians were once ashamed of their country.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial statements during a trip to China and South Korea rubbed many Indians the wrong way. Modi spoke to his country’s expatriate communities in Shanghai and Seoul, saying Indians were once ashamed of their country and wanted to leave. His remarks were intended to promote investment and business in order to limit migration from the country and encourage Indians to return.
Modi’s trip marked his first anniversary in office. In his Shanghai speech, he said his government had made expatriates proud: “Now you feel proud to represent the country. Indians abroad had all hoped for a change in government last year”. Later in Seoul he said: “There was a time when people used to say ‘we don’t know what sins we committed in our past life that we were born in [India]. Is this any country, is this any government, is this any kind of people…we will leave'” (Video in Hindi).
Many responded to his remarks with #ModiInsultsIndia: