PM has energy for foreign trips, can he not summon 'empathy' for visiting Manipur: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his three-nation tour, the Congress on Sunday said he has all the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm -- '3 Es' -- for such visits and asked can he not summon up a 4th E -- empathy -- for going to Manipur "where the people's suffering continues unabated".
The opposition party also said this is Modi's 35th trip abroad since May 2023 and it was "pathetic of the PM to treat Manipur in this awful manner".
"The Prime Minister leaves for Cyprus, Canada, and Croatia this morning. There was a time when he boasted about his knowledge of algebra by spouting the (a+b)^2 equation as applicable to India and Canada. But things went horribly wrong thereafter," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
"When it appeared that Canada was dragging its feet on the invite to India, Mr. Modi's drum beaters proclaimed that he would not go even if invited. But like always, he stands exposed," Ramesh claimed.
The Canadian prime minister has said that India has been invited to the G7 Summit along with a number of other non-G7 countries because India is the fifth largest economy in the world, Ramesh pointed out.
"Perhaps Mr. Modi can remind him that according to the Niti Aayog CEO, India became the world's third largest economy on May 24, 2025," the Congress leader said.
"This is Mr. Modi's 35th trip abroad since May 2023. He has all the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm--the 3 Es-- for such visits. But can he not summon up a 4th E--empathy-- for going to Manipur where the people's distress, agony and suffering continues unabated?" Ramesh said.
"He has met with NOBODY from the state, let alone political leaders, since May 3, 2023. Pathetic of the PM to treat Manipur in this awful manner," Ramesh added.
The Congress leader also shared a video clip of the PM from 2015 in which he is heard giving a mathematical analogy to demonstrate the relationship between the two countries.
The Congress has been attacking the prime minister for not visiting Manipur besides slamming the Centre for its handling of the situation in the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
More than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
Prime Minister Modi on Sunday morning embarked on a three-nation tour during which he will take part in the G7 Summit in Canada, and visit Cyprus and Croatia to shore up India's bilateral cooperation with these two countries.
Modi will first be in Cyprus at the invitation of the country's president, Nikos Christodoulides.
In the second leg of his visit, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Kananaskis in Canada on June 16-17 to participate in the G7 Summit at the invitation of Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In the final leg of his tour, Modi will undertake an official visit to Croatia on June 18 at the invitation of the prime minister of the European country, Andrej Plenkovic.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
