The Trinamul Congress has urged the Centre to “censure” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for “undermining” the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka through his allegedly disparaging comments after the chance meeting between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe at Dubai airport.

Derek O’Brien, leader of the Trinamul parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha, on Saturday wrote to external affairs minister S. Jaishankar drawing his attention to Adhikari’s “damaging” and “discourteous” comments.

“The All India Trinamul Congress demands that the Ministry of External Affairs intervene immediately and censure Mr Adhikari for attempting to damage the relations between the state of West Bengal and the Republic of Sri Lanka,” O’Brien wrote.

In posts on X, Adhikari had appeared to ridicule the turmoil in the Lankan economy and sought to draw a comparison with the state of Bengal’s coffers. Elaborating at a media interaction later, the leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly had said: “I think that Sri Lanka and Bengal are on the same page in terms of economic conditions. The government there (in Sri Lanka) has been driven towards bankruptcy, the current Bengal government has also become insolvent.”

Adhikari’s comments had appeared to undercut Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-publicised “neighbourhood-first” policy. During the meeting at the airport, Mamata had invited Wickremesinghe to the Bengal Global Business Summit.

O’Brien said in his letter to Jaishankar that Adhikari’s tweet and subsequent comments had made it clear that he was referring “discourteously to a friendly neighbouring country”.

“The year 2023 marks the 75th year of India-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and is also the bicentenary of the Tamil community of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. Suvendu Adhikari’s statements undermine the collective efforts of diplomats, economists, investors and the friendly people of both countries,” O’Brien wrote.

“These comments are an attempt to create an atmosphere of discord that goes against the spirit of cooperation and development. Such comments, made by a political representative, do not align with the values of diplomacy, respect and responsible governance that our nation upholds,” he added.

Trinamul sources indicated that the party might also highlight the issue during the special session of Parliament beginning on Monday.

A source in the Bengal BJP said that while Adhikari had been right about the plight of the Bengal economy, the reference to Sri Lanka could have been avoided.