On Obama's India comment, Johnnie Moore says ex-prez must spend his energy complimenting India

Former US president Barack Obama.

Former US president Barack Obama should spend his energy complimenting India more than criticising it, former commissioner of US Commission on International Religious Freedom Johnnie Moore has said, emphasising that India is the most diverse country in human history and America should be complimenting the largest democracy in the world.

“The relationship between India and the US has been good for a long time, but it has been taken to a whole different hemisphere in the last several days. It has been trending in that direction. But jet fuel was just put into the US-India relationship by PM Modi's visit here. And that is only good for the world.

"It brings more peace and prosperity. We can learn from one another in profound ways. And this was not India coming to the US with its handout. It was the exact opposite. It was an India coming to the US with just the help the US needs,” Moore told news agency ANI.

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More importantly, the American evangelical leader asserted that the US can learn a lot from India, and India is the most pluralistic country in the entire world.

“It is a laboratory of religions,” he said, “one of the remarkable things about India is, there are more languages and more religions and more diverse people in that single democracy that any example in human history”.

Earlier, Moore said that PM Modi's US state visit was a major step for both the major economies in bolstering ties and in taking some big decisions that would benefit both countries.

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'Double standard'

Notably, in an interview with CNN on June 26, Obama reportedly said if New Delhi does not protect ethnic minorities’ rights, there is a strong possibility at some point that the country starts pulling apart.

Coming down heavily on the former American president, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on June 25 said that Obama’s comments were surprising as six Muslim-majority countries had faced US “bombing” during his regime.

Further, the FM pointed out that Egypt became become the sixth Muslim-majority country to confer its highest civilian honour on PM Modi.