Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over his visit to Trinidad and Tobago, referring to him as a “Super Premium Frequent Flier PM” in a post on social media platform X.
Ramesh used the opportunity to underscore the historical and cultural ties between India and the Caribbean nation, while contrasting Modi’s trip with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to Port of Spain in October 1968.
“Trinidad and Tobago is a small twin-island republic that has produced several world figures,” Ramesh wrote. “We in India know it as one of the places to which the British took thousands of indentured labourers in the 19th century.”
Highlighting the contributions of the Indian-origin population, which makes up around 45 per cent of Trinidad and Tobago’s people, Ramesh listed notable figures of Indian descent including former Prime Ministers Basdeo Pandey and Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul and his brother Shiva Naipaul, and legendary West Indies cricketer Sonny Ramadhin.
He also recalled Indira Gandhi’s meaningful dialogue with Eric Williams, the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and a prominent historian. “Indira Gandhi had a longish conversation with him on the subject of his book Capitalism and Slavery when they met in Port of Spain in October 1968,” he wrote, noting that a film was made to commemorate the visit.
While acknowledging the multi-racial richness of Trinidad and Tobago, Ramesh’s post subtly juxtaposed historical substance with what he implied was the frequent, ceremonial nature of PM Modi’s international travels.
