‘I have been to Pakistan and Bangladesh, felt at home’: Sam Pitroda stirs row

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s close aide and Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) chief Sam Pitroda sparked a controversy on Friday, over finding ‘striking similarity’ between people of India and neighbouring nations including Pakistan and Bangladesh and also advocating for ‘neighbourhood diplomacy’ with trouble-torn nations including Nepal.

Pitroda, a Gandhi family loyalist, also called upon government to prioritize India’s neighbourhood in its foreign policy.

Sam Pitroda in an exclusive conversation with IANS, said, “Our foreign policy, according to me, must first focus on our neighbourhood. Can we really substantially improve relationships with our neighbours? They are all small. They are going through difficult times.”

“Of course, there is the problem of violence, there is the problem of terrorism. But all that is there. At the end of the day, in the neighbourhood, there is a common gene pool. I’ve been to Pakistan, and I must tell you; I felt at home. I’ve been to Bangladesh, I’ve been to Nepal, and I feel at home. I don’t feel like I’m in a foreign country. They look like me, they talk like me. They like my songs, and they eat my food. I must learn to live with them in peace and harmony,” he further told IANS.

Sam Pitroda, who rose to prominence in the 1980s as a technocrat close to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has long been a trusted adviser to the Gandhi family. His latest remarks comes in strong contrast to his earlier controversial statement where he courted controversy with racist references while speaking about India’s diversity and also drew parallels between South Indians and South Africans.

Pitroda’s comments come at a time when Bangladesh is navigating political and economic turbulence, and Nepal faces internal instability.

Earlier in February, when India-China ties were frosty, he sparked another storm and stated that India exaggerates the threat from China.

That time also, in conversation with IANS, he called upon Indian government to stop treating Beijing as an enemy and rather adopt collaborative approach.

“I don’t understand the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has a tendency to define an enemy. I believe the time has come for all nations to collaborate, not confront. Our approach has been confrontational from the very beginning. We need to change this mindset and stop assuming that China is the enemy from day one,” Pitroda said.

IANS