'India's ties with Arab countries not affected due to Prophet comments'

New Delhi: Qatar, Pakistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Azerbaijan are the seven countries that summoned Indian Ambassadors in connection with the remarks on Prophet Muhammed, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

In his reply to an unstarred question by Lok Sabha members Deepak Baij (Congress), Adoor Prakash (Congress), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), and Mala Roy (TMC) the MoS External Affairs V. Muraleedharan mentioned, "Indian Ambassadors in seven countries were summoned for the objectionable remarks by some elements against Prophet Muhammad."

Answering the question that whether some of the countries had expressed displeasure over the objectionable remarks by some elements against the Prophet Muhammad during televised debates and had summoned Indian ambassadors for explanation in this regard in May 2022, Muraleedharan clarified that the Indian envoys to these countries have also clarified that the remarks were made by individuals and do not in any manner reflect the views of the Government of India.

On the other hand, the junior foreign minister also informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, "Our Ambassadors conveyed that the remarks were made by Individuals and do not, in any manner, reflect the view of the Government of India. In line with our civilisational heritage and cultural traditions, India accords the highest respect to all religions."

Replying to a question about whether hate speeches by the leaders and spokespersons of political parties in India have affected its friendly relations with Arab countries recently, he said: "No. India shares historic and friendly relations with Arab countries which have strengthened significantly in the past few years in different domains including political, trade and investment, defence, security, science and technology, culture and people-to-people ties." "The Government of India continues to attach high priority to further strengthen relations with Arab countries, who understand the outlook and views of the

Government," he informed the Rajya Sabha.