Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that India’s personal attacks on him would not solve the problems facing New Delhi or restore Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “sadly crumbling” reputation at home and abroad, particularly after what he described as Pakistan’s victory over India last year.
Responding to Indian propaganda in a post on social media platform
In his message, the Defense Minister also referred to criticism from Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and a recent report by British newspaper The Guardian, saying both had questioned the credibility of some of the awards given to Modi.
“Persecuting me does not solve the problem. Calling me mentally unstable will not bring stability to Modi’s woefully crumbling reputation both at home and abroad, especially after the drubbing he took from Pakistan last year,” he wrote.
“Rahul Gandhi says the same thing about the awards given to Modi: that they are AI-generated or self-managed to project an image of a global statesman. In fact, it has enhanced his reputation as a global conman.”
“Even The Guardian, a renowned newspaper, pointed out the same issue and questioned the credibility of these awards,” he added.
He said Modi’s desperate measures to import fake laurels from abroad are an attempt to stabilize a reputation that is “pathetically unstable at home”.
A day earlier, citing the British newspaper’s investigation, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had accused Modi of turning international recognition into a carefully staged public relations exercise.
Modi’s trophy cabinet came under uncomfortable scrutiny after the investigation questioned the origins of several foreign honors bestowed upon him, some of which were little more than last-minute creations thrown in ahead of his visits.
The British newspaper reported that the most recent honor bestowed on Modi in Seychelles had been established just three days before his arrival, while the accompanying certificate contained spelling errors and showed indications that it may have been generated using artificial intelligence.
The report further said that the pattern extended beyond Seychelles, noting that Israel’s parliament had introduced the Knesset Medal shortly before Modi’s visit last month, making him its first and only recipient, while the Philip Kotler Presidential Award, presented to Modi in 2019 as an annual global leadership honor, has not been awarded to anyone else since.
On Saturday, Khawaja Asif also questioned the circumstances surrounding the awards.
