Salman Khurshid, who was external affairs minister in the UPA government, on Saturday sent his successor S. Jaishankar’s tweets flying back at him.

“Jaishankar was serving the UPA government as ambassador to important countries like the United States and China. He should know,” Khurshid told The Telegraph, asked about the minister’s claim on Friday that Narendra Modi’s foreign policy had made India’s relations with the world better than they were under the UPA.

Khurshid went on: “We were helping Nepal draft their Constitution. Now it is not only redrawing the map, it is trying to take away India’s cultural heritage. They are threatening to snatch Bhagwan Ram. Does that symbolise better relations?”

Accusing India of cultural oppression, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had said a few days ago that Lord Ram was born not in India but in a village near Kathmandu. Nepal has also included in its map territories claimed by India.

Khurshid continued: “Iran has dropped India from the Chabahar port project — is that an improvement in relations? We have been pushed into surgical strikes in Pakistan and a protracted negotiation with China to get the territory encroached on in Ladakh vacated. If our foreign minister thinks these are good vibes — positive outcomes of Modi’s foreign policy — what can we say? I will only say a career diplomat should know.”