- 4 months ago
This episode of India First explores former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi's praise for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
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00:00good evening disgustistan that's actually an apt name for that state sponsor of radical islamist
00:09terror pakistan also known as terroristan now why are we calling pakistan disgustistan look at the
00:17ground realities look at the disgusting language used by former cricketers like yusuf yohana for
00:24team india skipper surya kumar yadav he called him sewer kumar yadav were words to that effect
00:31the same yusuf yohana who had to convert from christianity to islam just to survive in pakistan
00:37speaks in such disgusting language on national television in pakistan and sadly he's not the
00:44only one pick any rock pick any rock and another disgusting pakistani former cricketer like shahid
00:51afridi will crawl out to spew venom against india
00:55terroristans tirade against india
01:01shahid afridi targets modi sarkar
01:10but fanboy shahid singh's pro rahul raga
01:27bjp slams india hater is rahul's friend
01:42congress alleges double standards by bjp
01:50india hater now rahul gandhi's fanboy that is a big focus on india first
02:02so india's operation sindoor on ground and the mention of pehlgaam just the mere mention of pehlgaam
02:11after team india's spectacular victory over pakistan has shaken pakistan to the core just
02:17three instances in the past 24 hours will show you how pakistan is at least their cricketing
02:21fraternity has lost their mental balance mohammad il yasi a jayshah mohammad terrorist he's been caught on
02:28camera conceding that the indian missile strikes decimated masjid subhanallah in bahawalpur
02:34killing several members of that maulana of terror masood azhar's family we'll also get you that story
02:39and shahid afridi and mohammad yusuf's shameful comments on india and on team india skipper surikumar
02:46we'll get you that story but also coming up on india first
02:50ambassador john bolton u.s former u.s national security advisor and ambassador to the united nations
02:58he joins me on india first to talk about the trade talk squad and whether india-us relations
03:04can still be salvaged is u.s now furiously backpeddling and what should one make of the trade talks
03:12or the precursor to the next round of trade talks that's currently underway in the national capital
03:17that big india today exclusive coming up i'm gaurav savant as always let's get started with the
03:22headlines on india first
03:24big confession by pakistan's deputy prime minister hulamish akdar admits india
03:33outrightly rejected third party intervention for ceasefire in india-pakistan dialogue
03:39he admits india insisted talks with pakistan is a bilateral issue
03:47india-us trade talks conclude for the day u.s negotiator bren lynch holds talks with his indian
03:56counterpart rajesh agarwal talks in delhi to prepare grounds for the sixth round of negotiations
04:02u.s continues to turn a blind eye to terror state pakistan sources indicate donald trump is set to
04:13meet pakistan's prime minister shabazz sharif on the sidelines of the united nations general assembly
04:19pakistan army chief asem munir is also expected to tag along
04:24the indian cricket team gets a new kit sponsor apola tire signs the deal to sponsor the team
04:36for 4.5 crore rupees per game till 2027 takes over betting app dream 11 as the primary sponsor
04:45massive cloudburst in himachal pradesh and in utarakhand flood engulfs parts of dehradun and mandi
04:59shops and hotels submerged in waters two missing in floods in dehradun you can see the raging rivers
05:08downstream it has caused tremendous damage to the people who are living nearby the banks of this river
05:17hotel building has been completely collapsed it's been submerged in the river as well
05:23former pakistan cricketer shahid afridi smarting under pakistan's defeat to india and dubai now blames
05:33prime minister narendra modi led government in india for the poor relations between india and pakistan
05:38he in fact is betting big and is batting for rahul gandhi leader of opposition saying rahul gandhi
05:45has a positive mindset rahul gandhi believes in dialogue and takes people along though any statement
05:53made by a frustrated pakistani player should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves this
05:59statement of shahid afridi has actually sparked off a very angry exchange between the ruling party
06:04and the principal opposition party with the bjp asking why is rahul gandhi a favorite of all anti-india
06:10elements or words to that effect and the congress swiftly hitting back circulating a video of the
06:15bjp leaders with shahid afridi saying gulu gulu tum karo or sawal humse poochhage we bring you this report
06:23india has humbled pakistan on and off the pitch
06:31an injured and insulted pakistan has decided to delve deep into its bag of dirty tricks
06:39amid meltdown in terrorism former pakistani cricketer shahid afridi has now launched
06:46a tirade against prime minister modi accusing indian government of playing the religion card
06:52he did not stop there but surprisingly also shahid praise on opposition leader rahul gandhi
06:59he did not stop there but surprisingly also shahid praise on opposition leader rahul gandhi
07:11just rahul gandhi ki agar ma bat karo rahul gandhi baut positive mindset wala admi
07:19afridi words have sparked a political storm in india the bjp hit back heart asking why is every indian
07:38hater invariably finds a friend in rahul gandhi the congress however tried to turn the tables
07:45accusing the bjp itself of double standards when it comes to hobnobbing with shahid afridi
07:51meanwhile this is the class of players who are now praising the leader of opposition
07:57while afridi has lashed out at the indian government former pakistan cricketer
08:02mohammad yusuf crossed the line hurling abusers at the indian skipper calling him a pig
08:08but even as pakistan rants new jellies tan has been consistent
08:30terror and talks can't go together the onus now is on every indian politician or amadmi stand with
08:38our forces and our players against those who berate and mock them bureau report india today
08:45union parliamentary affairs minister kiran rijiju reacted to shahid afridi's rant saying
08:54rahul gandhi has been a darling of pakistan suggesting afridi and gang should make rahul
09:00gandhi the prime minister of pakistan congress party's supriya srinit she's shot-packed putting
09:05out a video of bjp leaders with shahid afridi saying and i quote gulu gulu tum karo chonche tum
09:14ladao yarana tum nibhao ar sawal humse pooch hoge sharm karo now why can't the statements of a frustrated
09:23pakistani be dismissed with the contempt it deserves joining me on india first is dr puja triparty
09:29spokesperson of the congress party sardar rp singh is the national spokesperson of the bjp
09:33major general sanjay mestan a former defense attache at kabul joins us as an analyst nikhil nazis
09:40consultant editor sports uh today uh he joins us on a series of disgusting statements that have been
09:45made by by these pakistani players on television uh sanjay jha sports lover author political analyst
09:52former congress party uh member joins me uh on this broadcast but sardar rp singh why is the bjp
09:59riding on the bank uh back of statements made by a frustrated pakistani player shahid afridi uh
10:05according to some reports had some cousin killed a terrorist cousin killed by security forces and
10:10he's been very frustrated ever since so why use his statement to target a respected leader of
10:17opposition in our country uh good evening i have a different take to this complete subject
10:23uh my take is that uh it's a payback time by the deep state of the pakistan and saeed afridi is
10:30a front man of the deep state of pakistan isi uh because congressman gave clinch it to
10:37mr uh to the uh pakistan uh operation sindhu on on on account of operation sindhu right remember
10:44chadabram sawab saying that oh they were not the terrorists they they they were not the pakistani
10:48terrorists where is the proof that they were the pakistani terrorists the leader siddharamaya leader
10:53from warashtra all of them were trying to give clean chitluti uh pakistani terrorists during
10:58operation sindhu and now since the bihar election is on on the head so it's a way of giving it uh giving
11:05it back to the congress party and it's a way to oblige the congress party back uh and it has not
11:11happened the first time it has happened earlier also remember after 370 uh uh abrogation of 370
11:16lahul gandhi said oh the uh kashmiri galium me kattlo gaya there's a bloodshed happening in the kashmir
11:22and exactly the same was verbatom quoted by no less than imran khan in un assembly
11:27okay stay with me for a moment stay with me for a moment let me get dr puja tripathi to respond
11:33uh dr tripathi respond to the bjp saying this is the pakistani deep state saying thank you to rahul
11:41gandhi and promoting him uh good evening to government with my fellow panelists i think this
11:47humors me and also makes my black boy in anger the audacity to question rahul gandhi this is the
11:53same government which is shockingly spineless brazenly shameless unprincipled and they gone
12:00and that chose you know profit is spectacle over compassion and sensitivity to 26 people killed in
12:07and 17 people killed in crossfire and punch they went ahead and they uh they didn't boy they didn't
12:14call off the march india pakistan match and you have shown the visuals of uh i guess this gentleman
12:20who was baking bread stylishly sitting down in the podium and breaking bread and i'm sure there
12:25later words with shahida phil it was not rahul gandhi it was anurag thakur and then there was this
12:30hearty loss with this gentleman as if two for you know two long lost friends have been united it was
12:35not rahul gandhi it was julia shah so you know the audacity to call rahul gandhi uh you know non-patriotic
12:43or uh pushing him on his credential causing his in india he's a pakistan favorite if you want to take
12:49credentials about rahul gandhi's politics of him compassion empathy and love you can take credentials
12:55from the rameshwar sabziwala from cheteshwar mochi ji and also from the 17 children who have been
13:01orphaned in ponchos uh who's uh who's uh who have been adopted by rahul gandhi we don't need
13:06any testimonial from shahida phil or any taunt he can marry who stood against india but government
13:12needs to answer ashanya devedi has gone on record gone on public and saying if you play with pakistan
13:17you're playing with our emotions asmari jagdali whose father was killed is this is this how you
13:23honor the symbol okay this is my question not my question and this is a question on every indian
13:28why in the world did you go ahead with the india pakistan match let me get let me get rp singh to
13:33respond before i throw it open for a wider discussion rp singh why blame rahul gandhi for
13:37being praised by shahid afridi congress has put out that video of shahid afridi with bjp's anurag
13:43thakur and icc chief jai shah and asks yeh yarana kyun explain this friendship
13:51gaurav i'll reiterate my point again it's being he's he's a payback time by the pakistanis this
13:58deep state of pakistan keeping in mind a bihar election and helping congress to consolidate
14:04certain vote bank that's why he's appreciating rahul gandhi saying that there is no better
14:09leader than rahul gandhi and as i said it's not happened first time it has happened earlier also
14:14but are you saying if shahid afridi are no sir that's a very dangerous statement sir are you saying
14:20if shahid afridi praises rahul gandhi rahul gandhi will get more votes from a certain vote bank in bihar
14:27is that what you're saying that can be one of the target that can be reason otherwise why would
14:33shahid afridi all of a sudden come out of you and i never did i interrupted you ma'am i never
14:38interrupted you all of this is very bad of the congress leaders okay dr dripadi let let sardar rp singh
14:45completest point i'll come to you ma'am before i i throw it open because that's a very very big
14:49statement and a very dangerous statement so are you are you implying that indian muslims will get
14:53impacted by a pakistani muslim shahid afridi praising rahul gandhi and vote for rahul gandhi
14:58well it's something like when mr chadamram said that those terrorists were not uh the pakistani
15:05terrorists so that didn't uh dictated away from the the fact that they were the pakistanis but
15:14mr chadamram gave me the clean chat i mean we don't know what could be the reason for mr chadamram to
15:19give the clean chat to the pakistan terrorists but yes the pakistani tv the pakistani deep set would have
15:24been very happy with that so similarly here also whether what will be the outcome here we don't
15:28know but somehow help rahul gandhi because of bihar election and help him he's the leader
15:41okay 30 seconds dr tripathi before i bring in sanjay jha it's a very dangerous statement made by
15:47sarah sadar rapi singh and he should apologize and indian muslim is as much as an indian as you as
15:52me or as gaurav and he doesn't need certificates of patriotism from some shahid afedhi while saying
15:57that you know he's garnering rahul tell this to rahul gandhi okay sir just at a complete
16:04her point i'll come to you you should be ashamed of calling an indian muslim
16:08this to rahul gandhi it's not the first time it's happening
16:13i'm sure that the statement they don't need certificates of patriotism they don't need
16:18certificates of indian from june and from anybody in india and they are as much as an indian as you and me
16:25and this this is so dangerous what what you're trying to make why he why rahul gandhi is favorite of
16:31pakistani leaders and pakistani cricketers and pakistani stars why is he so favorite of them
16:46you should be ashamed of making this statement jen mestan sorry to drag you into a political part
16:51of this debate but uh you know pakistan's isi would like nothing more than principal ruling
16:57party and principal opposition party in india bicker over pakistan instead of standing united to take
17:02on pakistan's state sponsor radical islamist terra but what is your reading of the bjp saying there is
17:07a long connection from soros to shahid afridi according to the bjp inc stands for islamabad national
17:14congress uh gaurav uh good evening i think the pakistan uh chief statement is very very important uh to be
17:22be quoted here on 16th april just uh six days prior to palgam attack he had stated very clearly
17:31that hindus and muslims are separate and they cannot co-exist together and of course then he
17:37talked about kashmir being a jugular vein so why i'm quoting this statement is pakistan's strategy is
17:43and you rightfully use one word would the indian muslims get influenced by pakistani muslims
17:49the answer is absolutely no this is what uh asin munir wants he wants india to be divided between
17:57the indian muslims and the indian hindus and the rest of the population and we shall not fall into this
18:03trap and uh otherwise we'll be uh just you know falling into the trap of asin munir uh that is one
18:08thing second is afridi he himself is a afridi uh patan and uh actually in afghanistan this gentleman
18:17should be reminded that uh in afghanistan his own brethren the uh now i'm talking about afghani
18:23muslims they love india number one maximum uh irrespective of india uh you know india they
18:30they really love us and they hate you know my only point where i don't agree with you shayad afridi is
18:36no gentleman shayad afridi is clearly not a gentleman but you know you being a soldier always polite but
18:42nikhil naz what explains these ranks of these frustrated pakistani former players it's not just
18:47yusuf yohana uh yunus yohana or shayad afridi there's a long list well that's right gaurav uh
18:54what explains it i think it's clearly a difference of class clearly a difference of upbringing i think
18:59we should take offense to what mohamad yusuf has done here that big slur that he's directed at the
19:05indian captain you must remember he's not just a captain of a sporting team he's india's ambassador
19:10there so with this sort of a slur that he's directed at an indian captain he's actually
19:15abusing the entire country so i think this is something that needs to be taken very seriously
19:19and then on the second front shayad afridi says ki mein toh hamesha se kehra hun inke dil
19:24utne bade nahi jitne humare hote hai just to you know talk about that dil uh they go on to talk in
19:30their cricket shows all those examples that you put down they're talking about those fictional
19:34stories from may 10th where they supposedly brought down the raphael in a cricket show i must tell you
19:39gaurav i also conducted cricket shows both in english and hindi after the india pakistan game
19:44was done we also had cricketers of repute in a harbhajan singh and a sunil gavaskar none of them ever
19:49spoke about operation sindur or anything political or had these sort of things to say about pakistan
19:55all we discussed was performances who did well here who did well there and these are cricketing shows that
20:00they're sitting on that actually goes on to tell you kiske dil kitne bade hai kitne chote hai oh
20:05absolutely because pakistanis are very petty petty minded and very petty people uh you know apart
20:12from calling them disgustistan the other name uh that uh ritanshu and i and our team uh we were
20:18discussing was petistan not pakistan sanjay jha uh it's a rather petty country but uh and and people but
20:27sanjay jha bjp talks of congress's yarana with pakistan saying it's very old uh you heard sardar
20:34sardar rp singh saying from article 370 to surgical strikes to chabbis gara with you know bjp takes
20:41it back to the time that congress leaders were peddling pakistan's agenda calling chabbis gara rss ki
20:47saazish when there was clear proof it was the handiwork of pakistani terrorists trained armed and
20:53launched by pakistan's isi uh god of good evening uh to you and to my fellow panelists i hope you will not
21:00interrupt me i won't take very long i completely agree and fully endorse the defense that the
21:06congress spokesperson dr puja triparty has made on your program today let me just kind of add to that
21:13argument you are dealing in the bhartiya janta party with the most shameless hypocritical and what i would
21:22call as a fraudulent political party you remember colonel sophia qureshi who was the bjp leader who
21:30said that she was the sister of the terrorists who came from pakistan what action was taken against
21:37the gentleman from the bjp who said that nothing zero i want to expose before the viewers
21:45please do not get fooled by a political party that actually makes political capital out of a
21:53divide and rule politics in india forget shahid afridi he doesn't matter let's talk about the
21:58reality of what is happening in our country today and god of you and i have debated this very often
22:04the helga massacre happened who was responsible our intelligence and security failure mr modi's
22:10government and not pakistan who killed the congress so you are not you are not blaming you are not
22:17blaming the pakistani terrorists who singled out hindus and shot them at point blank range they are not
22:23to be blamed god of you you interrupted me here is my question a party that could not save our own
22:31a government that failed in protecting its own citizens in palgam a government that does a ceasefire
22:38is so weak is so cowardly under the pressure of donald trump and it plays cricket with pakistan
22:44and mr modi says no terror and i don't get people who are ill-informed i mean how hypocritical can
22:51you be okay let him complete his point i'll come to you rpc to respond to that however my question to
22:58you are you know while i will take the bjp to the cleaners on the points you have raised on uh you
23:03know sophia khuraishi and her brother or words to that effect that you've pointed out my question
23:09to you was how can a congress leader release a book called rss at a time when there's clear proof
23:18that this was the handiwork of pakistan that was my question to you sir and that is the time when bjp
23:24turns around and says this is congress giving pakistan a clean chit blaming rss at a time and now pakistan
23:32uh shayad afridi says thank you rahul gandhi that's the point rp singh is making
23:38rp singh has talked the standard bjp playbook it has zero impact i can tell you gaurav the people
23:45of india have seen through the bjp's politics inspired by the british of divided rule the
23:50shamelessness is exposed i'll give you one example you still haven't answered my question
23:55should the congress should the congress apologize to the country for saying 26 rss
24:01when it was the work of pakistani terrorists sir that's a clear you know you are from mumbai
24:07i was there in mumbai covering 26 11 we lost 166 people policemen were killed soldiers were killed
24:14well gaurav you forgot that there was the anti-terror squad chief hemant karkari who got
24:21slaughtered by the pakistan terrorists you forgotten the bjp mp who said we cursed him
24:27she said i cursed him so that is why 26 11 is called rss ki saazish for our internal fights we will give
24:34pakistan a clean chit you answered my question you answered a simple question who said who said during an
24:41election campaign in a divisive hate speech is the only question i failed to get an answer to however
25:02rp singh respond if the congress says rss ki saazish for 26 a bjp leader says a words to the effect that
25:11you know colon sophia khuraishi ke bhai or words to that effect these were the people and yet she
25:16was representing our case so how is bjp any different and let me add to that pakistani media
25:22has repeatedly praised prime minister narendra modi they've praised his leadership imran khan toshakana
25:27case you remember pakistani media was praising prime minister narendra modi's honesty pakistan
25:32recently praised prime minister narendra modi for standing up to uh donald trump having an independent
25:38foreign policy so if if they can praise prime minister modi they can praise leader of opposition
25:44and god of who went to nawas sharif's family wedding man how do we forget that to have a biryani okay
25:50vegetable biryani
25:54rp singh well sanjay jha how can you forget uh the screen kit being given by uh no less than prime minister
26:01monsoon ji to pakistan uh saying that they are also the sufferer of the terrorism remember that or
26:08have you forgotten that how can you forget the statements of the mr salman and how can you forget
26:14what mr uh uh what is his name uh mr shankarai said when he said oh help us to dislodge prime minister
26:22narendra modi we let's uh get together and dislodge prime minister narendra modi and how can
26:27you forget half is saying congress is my favorite party no less than half is saying that congress is
26:33my favorite party so i uh i i and my party has already apologized for what was said for uh colonel
26:47sophia but fact is that when will congress stop questioning the surgical strikes barra court strike
26:55like operation police officer too he's in a bad habit i mean why why do you get people who can't even
27:03see the mirror i mean i never treated you even once mr jha i want to bring in general meston into this
27:09conversation for a moment general meston as someone who's worn the uniform and you've always put india
27:14first is there a message here and you know purely keeping india first is there something to read between
27:21the lines when a political party in india talks of hindu terror and pakistanis talk of hindu terror
27:28and 10 pakistani terrorists come tying a kalawa in their hand this is what a kalawa is this is what
27:34hindus very proudly wear and uh all these 10 pakistani terrorists have a hindu name then when somebody
27:40calls 21 rs60 sajsh so does pakistan soros is seen very as very close to some leaders in india and
27:48then pakistan praises a political leader in india and that makes headlines is there is there a subtext
27:53as the bjp puts it uh gaurav you have asked me a very difficult question but i would just sum it up
28:00in one line uh you know if afridi was going to watch this discussion he would be very happy that we are
28:05giving him unnecessarily importance and you know unnecessarily we are getting divided on a uh
28:10debate uh so i personally feel that we are one india and i think after the op sindhu the prime
28:16minister of india had conveyed a very very clear message that india stood unified and that is the
28:21message i as a soldier would like to say that we are we are a unified country we cannot be divided on
28:27religious lines and we will not fall into that trap i am very clear and look in the indian army we have so
28:32many people from uh you know all religions and we have co-existed together that is what munir says
28:38we cannot coexist but here we are coexisting and look at the pakistan population of hindus it has
28:44gone down and look in india the population has gone up so these things show that you know in india
28:49every human being is valued every indian is valued not human being i would say every indian is valued
28:55and that is more important and i being in the armed forces okay i'm saying it with authority because
29:01i've never felt any discrimination amongst any religion and we have had nikhil but that's
29:06exactly the attempt that pakistan is trying to do petty evil-minded country the fact that he is calling
29:13surya kumar yadav our our captain as sewer kumar yadav and that's quite by design himself a christian
29:20who's converted to islam to survive in pakistan and these are not isolated cases if you look at that long
29:26list even uh shoy bakhtar he talks about waging gazwai hind against india it's something to do with
29:32their rather radical islamist mindset of the cricketers in zamam ul haq wants to convert foreign
29:37players to islam in pakistan well you're absolutely right uh you know in fact you talk about those uh
29:43references political references uh that were made by former cricketers that i just pointed out uh this
29:48tanvir ehmad uh that's made a political statement there is of course uh shahid afridi who's made that
29:54political statement but you're right uh historically as well we've heard it from uh in zamam ul haq we've
29:59heard it from uh vakar younis as well and i think this then uh is clearly the big difference between
30:05the two teams and i guess this is also the reason uh gotta remember because when there was a reference
30:10made by the indian captain surya kumar yadav in the post-match press conference and he dedicated that
30:15win uh to the victims of the pelgon terror attack and to the armed forces remember that was a point
30:21that the pakistan cricket board could have gone ahead with and kind of explored that with the
30:27isis is saying why a political statement but you know they didn't do it because they knew they didn't
30:31have a leg to stand on their own captain in mohamad rizwan when he was playing the world cup right
30:36here in india dedicated that one of their victories to the victim in gaza they've been found guilty of
30:41that uh then there have been various other references political references that they've made over
30:46the years so i think this was that one area they could have targeted they didn't because as i
30:50mentioned they didn't have a leg to stand on so what did they do they go to the match referee and
30:53say listen we do not want this match referee for the next game and that is also a request that has
30:59now uh been denied which is left pakistan quite red faced i must add so petty country sanjay jai you
31:06wanted to come in uh and and uh dr puja uh sanjay jai quickly sir i i believe that this is a good
31:12platform for the bjp to publicly apologize to the families of the victims who got slaughtered
31:18the people of india you were kicked out of the party you were kicked out of the party
31:45you are making money and we know who heads the icc he's the son of mr abit shah we all know that
31:57india knows it you can't run away from it mr singh
31:59mr sanjay jha mr sanjay jha you're a nice man you're a nice man you must your party must apologize
32:06and make it public what is your relationship with the pakistani you have the courage to apologize
32:11what is the what is this connection of the pakistan congress party okay
32:17gentlemen gentlemen i apologize i have to move on there's breaking news coming in and in a moment
32:21i'll be joined by ambassador john bolton so i quickly want to take this breaking news to all my guests
32:25many thanks for joining me the india u.s trade talks have concluded for the day india u.s trade
32:32talks or uh what will lead to the next round of trade talks uh after uh the talks were uh in a way
32:39deadlocked this precursor to the formal trade talks lasted almost seven hours uh is what sources tell
32:46india today the commerce ministry has just issued a statement saying discussions were positive and
32:52forward-looking uh they covered various aspects of the trade deal india and the united states have
32:59decided to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of the bta or the bilateral trade
33:07agreement the u.s embassy has also issued a statement the u.s embassy spokesman says assistant u.s trade
33:15representative brendan lynch had a positive meeting in new delhi with his counterpart in the ministry of
33:21commerce and industry india's special secretary rajesh agarwal today to discuss the next step in the
33:29bilateral trade negotiations so the road ahead has now been discussed there's lots more uh that is to
33:39happen but i want to quickly cut across to the united states of america joining me uh in a moment from
33:47now is uh former u.s national security advisor ambassador john bolton on a day of fast-paced
33:54developments i'm now joined by ambassador john bolton former national security advisor to u.s president
33:59donald trump and former u.s ambassador to the united nations ambassador bolton welcome welcome to india first sir
34:08ambassador pakistan's deputy prime minister ishaq dar has just told a foreign media channel that india
34:15turned down a u.s offer to mediate between india and pakistan uh perhaps alluding to uh the the
34:23ceasefire in may after operation sindoor does this does this indicate that president donald trump claiming
34:30that he ensured a ceasefire between india and pakistan is not true india had always said the
34:36u.s had no role to play now pakistan's foreign minister and deputy prime minister has conceded
34:41india turned down any third party mediation well it's certainly a pretty remarkable statement from
34:48the pakistani side but consistent with what my own understanding was that as in uh prior uh examples of
34:57increased tensions and even military activity between india and pakistan ultimately it was uh the leaders
35:03of the two countries that uh turned the dial down and and uh restored uh uh restored peace so uh you
35:10know uh donald trump has been after a nobel peace prize for some time and he said in the united states
35:17in his first six months he solved six wars one of which i think uh he meant to include was indian pakistan
35:23this would seem to be uh a pretty convincing statement by a very senior pakistani official that indeed
35:30no outsider had a no outsider had a role here it really was resolved between india and pakistan
35:36ambassador bolton u.s trade representative brendon lynch is in new delhi and this is the first
35:41in-person meeting between india and the u.s on trade uh once the negotiations were stalemated or
35:48broke down do you see this as forward movement uh by both the countries or a climb down by the u.s
35:55is there a is there a reset or would you see this merely as a holding operation
36:03well i think uh uh at least some people in the trump administration understand that the various
36:09actions the white house had taken had really uh uh gotten a very poor reception and
36:17okay
36:17uh they need to be steps taken to bring the relationship back to an even keel i certainly
36:24hope that's right i know that in india there was some feeling that trump had acted very abruptly back
36:29in august where he cut off if i'm not mistaken a scheduled negotiation meeting and simply said well
36:35i'm going to impose 25 percent tariffs on india uh if if that's accurate i think that was a mistake i do
36:41think the two sides were reasonably close to an agreement and maybe if they can get back to the
36:46table uh they can reach one at least on on the so-called economic tariffs okay but ambassador help
36:54us understand now u.s may call india a strategic partner u.s president donald trump may uh refer to
37:00prime minister narendra modi as a very dear or a very good friend but the u.s is also seen to be asking
37:07g7 countries to impose sanctions on countries like india at a time when there is talk of resumption
37:12of trade dialogue between india and the u.s well i think unfortunately it's a measure of how donald trump
37:20operates he does not himself think strategically he doesn't consider how uh how one issue is handled
37:27may impact another issue uh i don't think he appreciates the uh reality that despite the the
37:34russian aggression against ukraine the only country that's been penalized uh for the sale
37:40or purchase of russian oil and gas has been india there have been no sanctions no additional tariffs
37:45on russia uh and no sanctions no additional tariffs on china uh some believe that what trump
37:51is saying to the europeans actually is just another uh ploy so that he doesn't have to impose further
37:57sanctions uh on russia i can't uh say that for sure one way or the other but uh it's a it's a it's a very
38:05unusual statement by trump and and reflects the reality unfortunate though it may be that he's
38:11such an aberration that uh trying to track his policy quote unquote is almost impossible
38:19because you've described trump's trade policy as an enormous mistake and entirely counterproductive
38:26for the united states of america why do you believe so sir well uh i think it is an enormous mistake
38:34i think it's an enormous mistake almost across the board uh to go to war with all of our trading
38:41partners canada mexico europe japan india uh the whole world there there are i think bad actors in
38:48the international trade environment i think china is the principal bad actor but the way to deal with
38:53china would be to get all of our friends together and say we're all victims of china stealing our
38:58intellectual property subsidizing their enterprises against ours not opening their domestic market
39:05although they've repeatedly said they would but but instead trump chose to go to trade war with the
39:10whole world i think it's a huge mistake ambassador bolton look at the kind of language that was initially
39:17used by us president donald trump and then the language that is used by some of his key advisors
39:23uh you know from calling india a dead economy to saying um india will say sorry and come to the
39:29talks table in a month or two or india being in incorrectly described as laundromat for kremlin in
39:37your view sir why the use of such language and will this impact the overall strategic partnership
39:43well i hope not i think the language is unfortunate uh i i believe in direct talk myself but i also
39:52believe in many times the best way to do it is privately uh look there's a a history here that's
39:58not something that trump appreciates but uh we do need to think strategically we need to think about
40:03the long term i think leaders like japanese prime minister shinzo abe were thinking in the over
40:09the long term when he pushed the concept of the asian security quad japan india australia and the u.s
40:16i think that the insight remains valid and i think that's that's what we ought to be pursuing
40:22not uh tearing ourselves apart here over these trade issues and and issues like uh how to deal with russia
40:29i think the way you handle that uh is to try and find a way for india to find other sources of supply
40:35for oil uh increase increase production in the u.s and other producing countries to keep the price
40:42down there there are alternative ways to get to the right result here and how do you see india's
40:49quiet diplomacy um though you know each time there was a harsh word that came from the united states
40:56india did not respond to it uh officially i mean they may there may have been a statement or two
41:01officially from the spokesperson but no response to that ugly rhetoric from that maga ecosystem in
41:07the united states of america has that held india in good stead well i think most people in in the
41:16u.s who have followed it respect that i i think that's the only prudent way to behave uh you know if
41:22when when when people get angry and strike back at the some of the rhetoric you hear from trump's
41:27supporters it doesn't doesn't make things better it may make people feel good for a short short time
41:33but over the long term it's just it's not productive these are not people who really appreciate the
41:38complexities of the international environment or how to determine what u.s interests are in a in a very
41:45complex and shifting uh context and uh if we had more leaders in the administration who could do that
41:52i think we'd be in better shape but we've got to make do with what we have for the moment
41:56okay though you've gone on record to say you don't uh consider sergio gore qualified to be u.s
42:02ambassador to india even though president trump has described him as a as a trusted aide there are
42:08many in america who are advising india that uh you know sergio gore is a good idea he has president
42:14trump's ear uh why in your opinion is sergio gore not qualified to be u.s ambassador to india
42:21i don't think he has any experience in any aspect of international affairs and uh uh the the asset
42:30that he has is that he's close to trump but the problem is if he misappreciates uh the situation
42:36in india if he doesn't understand what's being communicated to him he can feed bad information
42:42back to the oval office which would only make what's already become a difficult situation even worse
42:48ambassador bolton there are some in the united states who are not very happy about india being
42:54a member of the shanghai cooperation organization or even brics in your view does that have the
43:00potential to adversely impact india u.s ties especially under trump administration
43:11well you know i think it's uh neither of these organizations really have substance to them
43:16their their appearance organizations i think for a country like india some of the associate
43:22countries and the brics aren't aren't ones that ultimately you want to associate with but i think
43:27the main thing is not the it to me always is not the not the symbolism not not the pr it's the
43:33substance and i think if we worked on the substance of the relationship trying to make it closer
43:38economically trying to have uh significant and in-depth discussions of the strategic environment
43:44that that that's the best way to proceed and ambassador given this blow hot blow cold tactics
43:51being adopted by the u.s right now when it comes to trade is it likely to have an impact on quad uh
43:58will president donald trump visit india for quad in your view should he is it is it as much in u.s
44:06interest as it is uh for the rest of the quad partners
44:14look i think it'd be in trump's own advantage to come to india to uh not just through social media
44:19but through direct personal contact with prime minister modi to try and re-establish or repair
44:25their relationship uh personal relationships are very important to trump uh because he thinks he
44:31understands those even if he doesn't understand much else but i do think uh president modi and he
44:37had a a good way of communicating and and sometimes it's important for the two leaders to talk directly
44:43and get their aides and advisors out of the way now because of these trade negotiations has the overall
44:52india u.s relationship both countries had invested uh heavily in it for the past 25 odd years uh post
44:58kargil has that strategic partnership been damaged uh many in india ask can u.s be trusted to be a
45:05reliable partner well i think i think the trade issue has caused the u.s a lot of damage around the
45:15world it's a totally unforced error uh totally unnecessary i do think it can be fixed but i think
45:21the sooner we get about trying to repair it the the the better the chances are that we'll succeed so
45:27i wouldn't waste any time it may be that prime minister modi and president trump could speak
45:31by telephone in the next few weeks i think that would be a very good first step
45:38and what's your assessment as former national security advisor of the united states of america
45:43of china's show of strength in beijing with that uh military parade recently uh is china's military
45:51power china's strategic power uh is is it coming of age well i think it was an effort to to project the
46:04image of a fully mature uh global power i don't i don't think that's an accurate description if you
46:10look at the problems inside the chinese economy and and other domestic problems they have but the whole
46:16thing was a propaganda show from legitimizing the chinese communist party's role in defeating japan
46:22and world war ii turned out the u.s didn't really have much of a role in that operation uh
46:28and it's uh it's the messages as much for the countries along the chinese periphery as as for the u.s to
46:36try and portray china as a more dependable more stable partner uh you know it it has an appeal when you have
46:43uh leaders who uh who zigzag back and forth all the time and uh but but again it's if you
46:51understand trump to have uh only three and a half years left in office that's a blip in history and
46:57you need to look at the at the longer term picture okay ambassador john bolton for joining me here
47:03on this india first special broadcast on india today many thanks big story coming in u.s president
47:17donald trump has lashed out at the european union and on the north atlantic treaty organization countries
47:24he's lashing out at his alliance partners he's telling them to stop buying oil from russia in this
47:32ongoing war between russia and ukraine talking to reporters donald trump said that the ukrainian
47:39president volodymyr zilinsky has to make peace deal with the russian counterpart the russian president
47:47vladimir putin and europe needs to stop buying oil from russia for that to happen so far the pressure was
47:57on india to stop buying oil from russia but india made it very clear that europe buys more gas from
48:06russia that india does china buys more oil than india and yet there are no sanctions either on the
48:14european union or on china these additional 25 percent tariffs have only been imposed on india
48:21i'll get you more on that story but let's quickly listen in to u.s president donald trump
48:27here's the problem you know the problem they're purchasing russian oil i don't want them purchasing
48:33russian oil and they've got to stop immediately not fair to us they're purchasing russian oil and we
48:39have to you know do things now the nice part we don't it doesn't cost us anything anymore you know
48:45that yeah they're paying they are buying everything from us unlike biden who gave away 350 billion
48:52we actually make money but i don't want to make money you know what i want i want that war to stop
48:56because last week 7 018 people got killed thank you so let's try and read between the lines india today's
49:05foreign affairs editor geeta mohan now joins me for more on this geeta usually the devil lies in the detail
49:11is donald trump telling eu and nato to stop buying just russian oil or should it be read as russian
49:19oil and gas because eu is the biggest uh buyer you know buyer of russian gas so stop both oil and gas
49:29or only oil well uh whether it's oil and gas or only oil this is a very desperate u.s president
49:37uh uh uh gaurav because we first saw the u.s president pressurizing european union and pressurizing
49:45european union uh to act against india and china in particular india uh european union came out and
49:52they've been very clear they're in talks with india there was a trade delegation that was here they're
49:57not sanctioning india then he went on to pressurize g7 countries uh not much move when it comes to the g7 as
50:06well except for some of the companies being sanctioned uh chinese companies but that had to
50:10do with technology and semiconductor chips than russian oil and then comes nato asking nato to
50:18pressurize or sanction uh china india he did not name india but he said countries uh that import russian
50:25oil particulars quite quite clearly uh targeting india once again and nato countries member states have
50:32great ties with india they've also not paid heed to the calls made by president trump so whether it's
50:38oil or whether it's gas the fact of the matter is that nobody's really listening uh to the u.s
50:43president he does in a way wants to end the war he does want to engage russia but on the other hand
50:49he's continuing to punish those countries that are engaging russia or who in the past helped russia
50:55out and will continue to engage russia so uh the ball is actually in washington's court it is what
51:00president trump wants to make of things and how he wants to move forward when it comes to engaging
51:06various countries look it is also coming at a time when he's cutting a deal with china
51:10in all probability there will be a leadership level conversation that will happen between
51:14xi jinping and president trump so he's being selective and the selective outrage everybody's reading into and
51:20knows is not going to get uh much headway because of the importance of india and the importance india
51:26holds for many of these european countries and native member states geetha keep tracking that
51:31story i will come back to you for more for the moment geetha mohan many thanks the us president
51:38donald trump's tall claims and repeated claims that he ensured a ceasefire between india and pakistan
51:45he mediated between two nuclear weapon states and that delhi and islamabad reached a ceasefire
51:51all those tall claims stand exposed and this time from pakistan so what ambassador john bolton former
52:00uh us national security advisor was just describing as his desire to get a nobel peace prize well that
52:08clearly is not happening pakistan has conceded pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister
52:14gulamish agdar that the united states sought to mediate india firmly said no prime minister narendra
52:24modhi made it very clear any discussion with pakistan would be bilateral there is no place for any third
52:31party mediation and that clearly indicates india's stand that india had rejected any third party mediation
52:39uh when we met 25th of july uh bilateral meeting myself with secretary ruby in washington uh i asked
52:48him what happened to the dialogue says india says that it is a bilateral issue u.s president's house of
52:55cards has crumbled pakistan's deputy prime minister mohammad ishagdar has admitted on record india never
53:05agreed to any third party mediation india has categorically been stating it's uh it's a bilateral
53:13so we don't mind bilateral but the dialogues have have to become comprehensive dar revealed that the
53:19ceasefire offer was rooted via the us but india flatly refused third party involvement in talks
53:27i was told that there would be very soon dialogue between you and india at an independent place
53:33uh when we met 25th of july uh bilateral meeting myself with secretary ruby in washington uh i asked
53:41him what happened to the dialogue says india says that it is a bilateral issue we don't so we are not
53:47begging for anything pakistan's big admission on operation sindoor is exactly what prime minister
53:54modi had told parliament months ago that no nation in the world asked india to stop operation sindoor
54:01dhar's statement comes even as donald trump's repeated claims credit for ceasefire between india and
54:19pakistan i got that war stopped nobody else could have done that we did a lot of jobs we did a lot of
54:26a lot of wars were stopped that nobody thought would even be possible and i'll tell you what
54:30the war with india and pakistan that was the next level that was going to be a nuclear war they already
54:36shot down seven jets dar's admission bolsters india's tank there is no role for a third party in indopark
54:44talks bureau report india today
54:51well the devil also lies in the detail here not only is there no place for any third party mediation
54:56even for bilateral talks between india and pakistan terror has to stop prime minister narendra modi
55:02has made it very clear goli bari ke beach baatchit sunai nahi deti so the ball is in pakistan's
55:08court stop terror take action against terrorists then come for talks we'll track that story very
55:14closely that is all i have for you on india first this evening many thanks to all
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