Congress demands impartial investigation into escape of 23 fugitives, holds PM accountable
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Congress on Saturday sought to fix accountability of Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Jaitley in the Rs 90,000 crore "loot of public money" and the escape of 23 fugitives, including Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. It also demanded an "impartial investigation" into it.
"BJP is more loyal to ‘con-man' than to a common man. PM Modi only promoted 'ease of looting and fleeing India" rather than promoting ease of doing business in India," said Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill.
The party also released a list of 23 fugitives who fled under this government and are settled abroad.
"The law-breaking and government organised escape episodes of Mallya, Nirav Modi and Chowksi prove beyond doubt that Modi Sarkar is not a guardian or protector of public money but a travel agency facilitating fraud and happy safe flying of willful bank loan defaulters," said Shergill.
"BJP provides the "chor darwaza" (escape door) to all wilful defaulters looking to run away with public money," he added.
The party stated total banking fraud cases from year 2014-2018 are 23,000. "Total amount involved in banking scams: Rs. 90,000 crore. In 2014-15 (Rs. 19,455 crore), 2015-16 (Rs. 18,698 crore), 2016-17 (Rs. 23,933 crore), 2017-18 (Rs. 25,459 crore)," the party stated.
The leader said: "It is high time political and legal accountability is fixed on the Modi government as to how and under whose instructions the law enforcement agencies decided to conveniently look away while the 23 fugitives left India," he added.
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In phone call, PM Modi, US President Trump resolve to promote global peace, security
New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to work towards a "trusted" partnership between India and US and advance global peace and security in their first phone conversation since the American leader's inauguration last week.
Modi and Trump exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine, and deliberated on measures to boost bilateral cooperation in areas such as technology, trade, investment, energy and defence, an Indian readout said.
The two leaders agreed to meet soon, it said.
"Delighted to speak with my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump @POTUS.
Congratulated him on his historic second term," Modi said on 'X'.
"We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership. We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security," he said.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the two leaders "reaffirmed" their commitment for a "mutually beneficial and trusted partnership".
"They discussed various facets of the wide-ranging bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and measures to advance it, including in the areas of technology, trade, investment, energy and defence," it said.
"The two leaders exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine, and reiterated their commitment to work together for promoting global peace, prosperity and security," the PMO said.
"The leaders agreed to remain in touch and meet soon at an early mutually convenient date," it added.
It is not immediately known whether the issues of immigration and tariff figured in the talks.
Like in many countries, there have been some concerns in India as well over the Trump administration's approach on immigration and tariff.
President Trump has already talked about slapping "100 per cent tariffs" on the BRICS grouping, a bloc that includes India too.
It is learnt that the phone call was initiated from the Indian side.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week that India is looking for "bolder, bigger and a more ambitious" relationship with the US and indicated its readiness to work with the Trump administration to address issues like illegal immigration and trade.
The phone conversation between Modi and Trump came six days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held separate meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz in Washington.
Jaishankar also attended the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in the American capital. The meeting was the Trump administration's first foreign policy engagement.
At a media briefing in Washington on January 22, Jaishankar said his meetings signalled that the Trump administration "prioritising" the bilateral relationship with India.
The external affairs minister also said that there was agreement between the two sides about the need to be bolder, bigger, and more ambitious about the bilateral relationship.
Asked about the Trump administration's policy on tariff and immigration, Jaiswal said on Friday that India is looking at addressing issues in a constructive manner.
"Our approach has always been to address issues in a constructive manner which is in keeping with the interests of both countries," he had said at his weekly media briefing last week.
"We remain in close communication with the US administration and would like to continue to work towards strengthening our economic partnership further," he said.
India is also keen to continue cooperation under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) that was launched during the tenure of the Biden administration.
