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New Delhi
Indiaâs External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expressed strong displeasure over the observations made by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on his predecessor Sushma Swaraj in his latest book. In his book 'Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love', which was released on Tuesday, Pompeo has described Sushma Swaraj as a "goofball" and "heartland political hack" and said that he never saw her as an "important political player".
"On the Indian side, my original counterpart was not an important player on the Indian foreign policy team. Instead, I worked much more closely with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, a close and trusted confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the 59-year-old writes in his book.
Swaraj was the former foreign minister in the first Modi government from May 2014 to May 2019. She died in August 2019.
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Reacting to Pompeoâs remarks, Jaishankar on Wednesday told PTI news agency, âI have seen a passage in Secretary Pompeoâs book referring to Sushma Swaraj ji. I always held her in great esteem and had an exceptionally close and warm relationship with her. I deplore the disrespectful colloquialism used for her.â
However, Pompeo was all praise for Jaishankar in his book. âI could not have asked for a better counterpart,â he wrote.
âI love this guy. English is one of the seven languages he speaks, and his is somewhat better than mine.â
He called Jaishankar a âprofessional, rational, and a fierce defender of his boss and his countryâ.
âHe (Jaishankar) said that he could see why I had trouble with his predecessor, a goofball and a heartland political hack. "Careful, I'm a heartland political hack!" I replied in jest. He laughed, noting that if that were true, it would make me the first heartland political hack who had ever been an editor on the Harvard Law Review. Well played, J,â Pompeo said, referring Jaishankar as J.
(With inputs from agencies)
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