PoliticsForeign policy
Anand Sharma backs firm line on 'indentured servants' remark, says India 'cannot be dictated to'
The Congress veteran endorsed the government's response to the description of Indian IT professionals and said the US must stay sensitive to India's needs.
Key points
- Anand Sharma said the phrase indentured servants for Indian IT workers revives painful colonial memories.
- He endorsed the Foreign Minister's statement in response.
- He said India-US ties must respect India's sovereignty.
Former Union minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday backed the government’s firm response to a remark describing Indian IT professionals working for Indian companies as “indentured servants”, saying the phrase stirred memories of colonial exploitation.
“That word itself provokes very painful memories of the colonial past,” Sharma said in New Delhi. He linked it to the history of Indians taken as indentured labour to the Caribbean and parts of Africa.
Sharma said he had seen the government’s response and endorsed the External Affairs Minister’s statement on the issue.
His remarks came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s engagement with India was under discussion. Sharma, who served as commerce minister, said a strategic partnership had to work both ways. “Now it is for the US also to remain sensitive to India’s own situation and needs,” he said. “Now we cannot be dictated to.”
“The Indian government must remain firm in defending India’s sovereignty,” he said, adding: “India is a large country and has a rightful aspiration to be part of the global leadership.”
Rubio is in India until 22 October, with talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai due on Tuesday.