The Government of India on Thursday (July 10, 2025) disassociated itself from the comments made by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, where he mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s just-concluded five-nation tour of countries with “population of 10,000” and for the awards he received there. In a sternly worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) objected to the comments made by a “high state authority about India’s relations with friendly countries from the Global South”.
“These remarks are irresponsible and regrettable and do not behove the state authority,” the MEA said. “The Government of India disassociates itself from such unwarranted comments that undermine India’s ties with friendly countries.”
Sources clarified that the MEA statement referred to comments made during Mr. Mann’s press conference on Thursday (July 10, 2025) in Chandigarh about Mr. Modi’s foreign travels and in particular his nine-day tour to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia.
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Mr. Mann, a former comedian and actor, said he was not sure which countries the Prime Minister had been visiting, referring to them with fictitious names like “Magnesia, Galvesia, Tarvesia”.
