Sushma Swaraj apologises over comment on PM Modi reaching out to Indians in Nepal

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed lakhs of "Indians" in Nepal's Janakpur recently.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday apologised for saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed lakhs of "Indians" in Nepal's Janakpur recently. She posted an apology on Twitter after people on the microblogging site, including a Parliamentarian from Nepal, pointed out that Modi addressed Nepali people in Janakpur earlier this month and not Indians.

"This was a mistake on my part. I sincerely apologise for this," Swaraj tweeted on Monday night along with a video of her comments about Modi's efforts to reach out to Indian diaspora abroad, including in Nepal.

Earlier addressing a press conference on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the NDA government, Swaraj said no prime minister before Modi had tried to reach out to the Indian diaspora at such a large scale.

"Narendra Modi is the first prime minister of the country who has from America's Madison Square to Janakpur (in Nepal) addressed lakhs of Indians and reached out to them," Swaraj had said.

Nepali Congress leader and Parliamentarian Gagan Thapa criticised Swaraj for the comments and wondered whether it was a "casual undermining of Nepal's sovereignty".

"Regrettable that India's External Affairs Minister @SushmaSwaraj described Janakpur's population that @narendramodi greeted as Indians. One wonders what the confusion was, or if this was casual undermining of Nepal's sovereignty," he tweeted.