Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday spoke about a toolkit in vogue in foreign countries before expressing surprise at the comments of “ek purva rashtrapati United States ka (a former President of the United States)” on minority rights while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was telling the world about India.

Sitharaman pointed to Egypt having become the sixth Muslim-majority country to confer its highest civilian honour on Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the bombing of Muslim nations during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Sitharaman, who was deputed at the BJP headquarters to speak on Modi’s visit to the US, said in response to a question: “Aur aise toolkits jo videsh mein chalte hain, in sabko bhi abhi kaam mein lagaya hua hai (Such toolkits that are in vogue abroad are being deployed.) This is why I think they (the Opposition) don’t have faith in themselves that the people will listen to them. That is why they are resorting to such means and levelling baseless allegations against the PM.

“Jo kal hua, bahut aascharyajanak hua, usi samay jab PM campaign kar rahe the, yani Bharat ke baare mein sabko bata rahe the, usi samay, ek purva rashtrapati United States ka bayan de rahe hain Bharat ke Muslims (What happened yesterday was very surprising. When the PM was telling the world about India, at that moment a former President of the United States was giving statements about Muslims in India.)”

On Thursday, Obama had told CNN: “If the President (Joe Biden) meets with Prime Minister Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India, that’s something worth mentioning.”

The former President had added that “if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility (that) India, at some point, starts pulling apart....”

At the media interaction in New Delhi on Sunday, Sitharaman was asked about the Opposition’s allegation of an assault on the religious rights of minorities on Modi’s watch while the Grand Mufti of Egypt didn’t see any such backsliding. She replied: “The Opposition resorts to (such negative campaign) because they are not able to defeat PM Modi politically and electorally.”

Sitharaman added: “The Congress’s role in running such a campaign can be seen very clearly since the last election.”

The finance minister said she was maintaining restraint and stressed that India wants friendly relations with the US, but rued that the comments by sections in that country about religious freedom in India were unfortunate.

Sitharaman recalled how during Obama’s presidency Muslim countries like “Syria, Yemen, Saudi, Iraq” were bombed by the US.

“Bombings took place against seven counties where the Muslim population is dominant. From Syria to Yemen to Saudi to Iraq, didn’t bombings take place? More than 26,000 bombs were dropped,” she said. “When such countries (where bombs were dropped) criticise his (Obama’s) political decision, will his criticism of India sound credible?” Sitharaman asked.

She appeared to suggest that foreign leaders like Obama get carried away by the Opposition’s “false propaganda against PM Modi on foreign soil” without knowing the ground realities.

Sitharaman said Modi’s visit to the US had “redefined the partnership” between the two countries.

She referred to the highest civilian honour of Egypt, the Order of the Nile, being conferred on Modi on Sunday. “So far the Prime Minister has been conferred 13 state honours from countries across the world and of this six are from countries where the Muslim population is in majority,” Sitharaman said.

She highlighted that Modi was not only received by the Prime Minister of Egypt but also by the Grand Mufti, stressing the religious significance of this in the Muslim-majority country.

“There is an organised campaign purposely being levelled at the doorstep of the PM without any basic data in hand. Otherwise, why would counties give their highest honour to the PM and why would there be a distortion in understanding how India and its minority population, no matter which religion they belong to, are being part of the Indian mainstream?” she asked.