BJP Leader's Post Seen As Threat To West Bengal-Sri Lanka Ties


(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette)

Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been accused of making a comment which could threaten the relationship between West Bengal and Sri Lanka.

Adhikari had reportedly made the comment on social media, the Thaiger website reported

According to the website, Adhikari found himself in the middle of a controversy following the social media post that Trinamool congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien claimed was aimed at deriding a meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe .

In a letter penned to Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, O'Brien voiced his discontent about Adhikari's actions, accusing him of misusing his position as an MLA.

According to O'Brien, Adhikari's social media post was a deliberate attempt to damage the potential economic cooperation between West Bengal and the Government of Sri Lanka. He claimed that such comments contradicted the principles of diplomacy, respect, and responsible governance that India upholds.

The TMC MP suggested that Adhikari's remarks were entirely unfounded, particularly those related to the West Bengal economy.

O'Brien went on to applaud Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's leadership, stating that Adhikari's comments were a calculated move to tarnish the reputation of West Bengal as an increasingly attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).

He called for the Ministry of External Affairs to intervene and reprimand Adhikari for causing potential harm to the relationship between West Bengal and Sri Lanka.

This incident comes after Banerjee, while on an official visit to Dubai and Spain, had an unplanned encounter with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe at the Dubai International Airport.

During this chance meeting, she extended an invitation to President Wickremesinghe to attend the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2023, scheduled to take place in Kolkata in November. T

he Sri Lankan President reciprocated by inviting Banerjee to visit Sri Lanka. (Colombo Gazette)

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Colombo Gazette

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